The GSA was established as a Community Agency on 12 July 2004. The European Council took this important step because of what it saw as the strategic nature of European satellite positioning and navigation programmes, which include both EGNOS and GALILEO, and the need to ensure that essential public interests in this field are adequately defended and represented.

The GSA's predecessor, the GALILEO Joint Undertaking (GJU) was set up in May 2002 by the European Community and the European Space Agency to manage the development phase of the GALILEO Programme. The GSA officially took over all tasks previously assigned to the GJU on 1 January 2007.

An official European Union Regulatory Authority, the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) manages all public interests related to European GNSS programmes. GSA strategic objectives include the achievement of a fully operational GALILEO system. This includes the laying of foundations for a fully sustainable and economically viable system. Moreover, GSA's key stated objective is to make GALILEO not just a functioning system but also the world's leading satellite navigation system for civilian applications.