Europe aims for first Galileo launch this year
Europe aims to launch the first satellite in its Galileo program late this year aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, the European Space Agency said on Thursday. Galileo is Europe's plan to create its own global navigation satellite system, with uses ranging from helping motorists navigate electronic maps to assisting search-and-rescue operations. It is scheduled to go into service in 2008 and eventually will have 30 satellites orbiting almost 24,000 kilometers above the Earth. "We must get at least one in orbit by June," an ESA spokesman said, adding that the aim was a launch by the end of 2005. "The next step is to have four to do the in-orbit validation and, once we are satisfied with this, we can launch the remaining ones," he said. The project is meant to rival the U.S. Global Positioning System. It will be interoperable with GPS as well as GLONASS, Russia's global satellite navigation system.
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