The platforms passed a key technical review at the weekend, paving the way for their flight to orbit on a Russian Soyuz rocket on 20 October.One satellite has already made the journey to the launch complex in French Guiana; the second will ship this week.
The European Commission is investing billions of euros in its own version of the American GPS system. It expects Galileo to bring significant returns to the 27-nation bloc's economies in the form of new businesses that can exploit precise timing and location data delivered from space.
The In-Orbit Validation (IOV) spacecraft have been built by a consortium, including Europe's two heavyweight space companies - Astrium and Thales Alenia Space.
For more: BBC News - Europe's Galileo sat-nav spacecraft ready to fly
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