Archive 2004

NovAtel Inc. Awarded Contract for Galileo Space Technology Development Program

For Immediate Release	Contact:	Tony Murfin (403) 295-4512
	Investor Contact	Sonia Ross (403) 295-4532

(Calgary, Alberta, Canada, October 27, 2004) - NovAtel Inc. (NASDAQ: NGPS), a precise positioning technology company, announced today a CDN $1.6 million Space Technology Development Program (STDP) contract, awarded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), for work to extend an initial proof of concept prototype Galileo receiver. Funding for this contract will be split 60/40 respectively between the CSA and NovAtel. Galileo is the European Union's state-of-the-art GNSS system, which is expected to be fully operable by 2008 with up to 30 satellites orbiting the earth.

The STDP contract focuses on developing L1/E5A engineering receivers and L1/E5A transmitters for CSA evaluation and for possible monitoring of prototype Galileo satellites. The new receiver will be integrated into a modified version of NovAtel’s WAAS-G2 receiver and the transmitter will be based on an existing L1/L5 Signal Generator design.

“NovAtel has previously been awarded contracts funded by the Canadian and European space agencies for work on Galileo signal verification, user receiver and ground reference requirements,” said Tony Murfin, NovAtel’s Vice President of Business Development. “This latest contract award positions NovAtel to bid for Galileo programs being contracted by the European Commission and European Space Agency for the recently launched (C/D/E) development phases of Galileo. Also, we believe the research and development work accomplished as a result of this contract will benefit our future core OEM receiver technology development and create the technology necessary to provide Galileo capability for our worldwide national reference receiver system customers.”

Currently, NovAtel supplies GPS navigational receivers to national satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) including the US WAAS, the European EGNOS, Japanese MSAS and Chinese SNAS. These complex receivers incorporate NovAtel’s Narrow Correlator â tracking technology and patented MEDLLâ technologies, process WAAS signals from geostationary satellites, and include dual frequency L1/L2 and L1/L5 signal reception.

About NovAtel Inc.
NovAtel designs, markets and sells high-precision GPS and other positioning components and sub-systems used in a wide variety of commercial applications principally in the aviation, geomatics (surveying and mapping), mining, precision agriculture, marine and defence industries. NovAtel’s solutions combine hardware, such as receivers and antennas, with software to enable its customers to fully integrate the Company’s high-precision GPS technology into their respective products and systems. The Company is focused on supplying core high precision positioning technology to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators who build systems for various end market applications. For more information, visit www.novatel.com.

Certain statements in this news release, including those about the Company’s prospects for additional Galileo related projects, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on management’s current expectations regarding NovAtel’s future business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘will’’, ‘‘potential’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘predict’’ or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including certification and market acceptance of NovAtel’s new products, impact and timing of large orders, pricing pressures in the market and other competitive factors, maintaining technological leadership, and other factors described in our Form 20-F and other SEC filings, many of which are beyond the control of NovAtel. These factors should be considered carefully and undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and NovAtel assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.