Press Release: GALILEO on track: successful launch of the GIOVE-A satellite

GALILEO, Europe’s global satellite navigation system is now a concrete reality. On the 28 December 2005 the 600-Kilogram GIOVE-A satellite, manufactured by the British company Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, was placed in a 23,222 kilometres orbit by a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for transport declared: “radionavigation based on GALILEO will be a feature of everyday's life, helping to avoid traffic jams and tracking dangerous cargos, for example. The launch of GIOVE today is the proof that Europe can deliver ambitious projects to the benefit of its citizens and companies”.