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.

The €3.4 billion Galileo project will eventually use about 30 satellites and is expected to more than double GPS coverage, providing satellite navigation for everyone from motorists to sailors to mapmakers. Because Galileo is under civilian control, the ESA also says it can guarantee operation at almost all times, unlike the American system.

Last year, President George Bush ordered plans for temporarily disabling GPS satellites during national crises to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology.

"Galileo is made in Europe by Europeans," ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina said. "If the Americans want to scramble GPS, they can do it whenever they want."

Galileo will also be more exact than GPS, with precision of about three feet, compared with about 16 feet with GPS technology, ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina said.

With Galileo, for example, rescue services will be able to tell ambulance drivers which lane to use on the highway, he said.

While in orbit, Giove A will test atomic clocks and navigation signals, secure Galileo's frequencies in space and allow scientists to monitor how radiation affects the craft.

A second satellite named Giove B is scheduled to be placed in orbit this spring. Two more satellites will then be launched in 2008 to complete the testing phase, which requires at least four satellites in orbit to guarantee an exact position and time anywhere on earth.

Consumers are expected to be able to buy Galileo receivers in 2008, and they will be able to switch back and forth between GPS and Galileo, similar to how people can change between mobile phone networks.

The Galileo system should be fully functional by 2010.

Three non-EU nations China, Israel and Ukraine have also signed on to the programme set up by the European Commission and the ESA.