NovAtel Awarded Contract to Develop Galileo Prototype Receiver.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2003

NovAtel Inc. (NASDAQ:NGPS), a precise positioning technology company, announced today that the Company has been authorized to begin work on a CDN$186,900 contract from Canadian Public Works & Government Services, sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency under the Space Technology Development Program, for the development of a Galileo prototype receiver. Galileo is Europe's state-of-the-art GNSS system, which is expected to be fully operable by 2008 with up to 30 satellites orbiting the earth.

NovAtel plans to use its new L5, FPGA based precise positioning receiver to develop a pre-production level Galileo capable receiver. The new receiver will be configured to track the Binary Offset Carrier BOC(2,2) ranging code that is proposed to eventually be transmitted at the Galileo L1 frequency. For this pre-production development the design will be verified at the L5/E5a frequency. The Company also plans to modify an L5 signal transmitter, developed by NovAtel for Zeta Associates of Fairfax, Virginia, to output a Galileo BOC(2,2) test signal.

There is a photo of NovAtel's new L5, FPGA based precise positioning receiver available on CCNMatthews' website at: http://www2.cdn-news.com/database/fax/2000/L5%20proto%20card.jpg

According to Tony Murfin, NovAtel's Vice President, Business Development, "This CSA project will allow NovAtel to move study work already accomplished on Galileo into actual receiver hardware. We are leading the world in L5 receiver development and we will capitalize on this to engineer a production-ready Galileo receiver. This program will address one Galileo signal in a suite of planned signals and services. We anticipate that if this work continues with CSA, we will be able to engineer the other Galileo signals."

About NovAtel Inc.

NovAtel Inc. is a leading provider of precise global positioning and augmentation technologies designed to afford our customers rapid integration and superior return on investment. The Company's core technology is being applied in diversified positioning markets around the globe including agriculture, mining, marine, surveying, unmanned systems and machine control. NovAtel is also the prime supplier of GPS ground reference receivers to national satellite-based augmentation systems worldwide including the U.S. WAAS, Europe EGNOS, Japan MSAS and China SNAS. For more information, visit www.novatel.com.

Certain statements in this news release, including financial guidance, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or developments in the Company's industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, operating results of subsidiaries and joint ventures, establishing and maintaining effective distribution channels, certification and market acceptance of the Company's new products, impact and timing of large orders, credit risks of customers and joint ventures, financing of joint ventures, pricing pressures in the market and other competitive factors, maintaining technological leadership, timing of revenue recognition in connection with certain contracts, the ability to maintain supply of products from subcontract manufacturers, the procurement of components to build product, product defects, U.S. dollar to Canadian dollar exchange rate fluctuations and the impact of industry consolidations, together with the other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.