PARIS (Sputnik) – Russian carrier rocket Soyuz-ST with two EU satellites aboard was successfully launched from Kourou space center in French Guyana early on Friday, the Arianespace launch service provider said.
28 August 2014, 07:34 GMT
The Galileo satellites will become the ninth and tenth to be launched into orbit under the EU Galileo program, which aims to create a global satellite navigation system alongside existing US Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian Glonass.
Galileo's Full Operational Capability satellites were first launched from Kourou in August 2014. By 2020, a total of 30 Galileo satellites are expected to be placed into orbit, with each of them worth about €40 million (about $45 million).
Two more Galileo satellites are scheduled to be launched before the end of 2016, according to Arianespace. The satellites should be shipped to Kourou in the second half of October.
