EU says costs for Galileo satellite project reliable

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission defended on Monday its 3.4 billion euro ($5 billion) cost forecast for the Galileo satellite navigation program following a report the budget is bound to be seriously overrun.

The German weekly Der Spiegel has quoted a confidential Berlin government report as forecasting that Galileo, aimed at rivaling the U.S. Global Positioning System, will cost at least 1.5 billion euros more than the EU executive believes.

"The estimates we have are really based on solid ground," the Commission's transport spokesman, Michele Cercone, told a daily news briefing.

Der Spiegel also quoted unidentified financial and industry experts as saying Galileo could end up costing between 5 billion and 10 billion euros.

Cercone said the Commission's forecast embraced the cost of building infrastructure needed to launch the project in 2013. He ad