Lift-off for EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system

THE European Union launched the first satellite in its Galileo navigation programme yesterday, which European officials expect one day will end the continent’s reliance on the US Global Positioning System.

The Galileo satellite, named Giove A, took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket.

After the launch amid clear skies, the satellite was released into orbit and began transmitting signals, scientists said.