MOSCOW, Russia -- An
experimental satellite for a much-delayed European Union rival to the United
States' GPS navigation system blasted into orbit Sunday after a successful
launch atop a Russian rocket, the Russian and European space agencies said.
The Giove-B satellite shot into space atop a
Soyuz-FG rocket launched from the Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan, entering
orbit at 8:01 a.m. (0201 GMT) as planned, the Russian space agency Roskosmos
said.
The EU called the
launch a key step toward its planned global satellite navigation system,
Galileo.
"The launch of Giove-B is the best possible
proof that Galileo is well on its way and is the symbol of European excellence
in this new and major technology," an EU statement quoted Jacques Barrot, the
European Commission's vice president in charge of transport, as
saying.
Barrot and other senior EU officials monitored
the launch from the Fucino control center in Italy.
Giove-B is the second satellite to be launched
for Galileo. It will test technologies to be used in the system, including an
atomic clock that the EU says will be the most accurate in space.
Touted as technologically superior to GPS,
Galileo is scheduled to be operational by 2013 but has encountered delays. Its
first satellite was launched in 2005, but the second missed its late 2006 launch
due to a short-circuit problem in final testing.
Late last year, European Union governments had
to agree to a taxpayer bailout after a consortium of private companies from
France, Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy walked away from the project in a
financing dispute.
Galileo promises to more than double existing
GPS coverage, providing navigation for motorists, sailors, pilots and emergency
rescue teams. It would improve coverage in high-latitude areas such as
northern Europe, and in big cities where skyscrapers can block
signals.
Galileo is to include 30 satellites. The next
step is the planned launch by 2010 of four operational satellites designed to
ensure that the system
works.
