Soyuz lifts off two satellites for Europe's Galileo system

    Updated: 2011-10-21 21:38

    (Agencies)

      Comments() Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按鈕 0

    KOUROU - A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Friday bearing the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo global positioning system, a much-heralded mission that will redraw commercial competition in space.

    This was the first time that Russian-built Soyuz rocket took off from a Europe's spaceport.

    Soyuz lifts off two satellites for Europe's Galileo system

    The Soyuz VS01 lifts off carrying the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo global positioning system, at the Guiana Space Center in Sinnamary, French Guiana in this October 21, 2011 handout photo. [Photo/Agencies]

    The rocket lifted off at 7:30 am local time (1030 GMT) from the base near Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America, and the Galileo satellites were scheduled for separation four hours later. Heavy rain had no impact on the operation.

    "All went well," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of the Arianespace rocket launch company, in a statement after the launch.  

    The culmination of more than a decade of planning, the launch had to be delayed by 24 hours from Thursday after a leaky valve was detected in the rocket's fuelling system.

    The EU commissioner in charge of industry and space policy, Antonio Tajani, said a new tender would be announced on Friday for six or eight satellites of the Galileo group.  

    Once fully operational later this decade, the Galileo system aims to give Europeans autonomy from the U.S. government-controlled Global Positioning System. Russia says it recently completed its own similar system.  

    Rather than build a new rocket from scratch, Europe decided to build a 467 million euro launch pad for Soyuz in the French Guiana base where it already launches its Ariane rocket family.  

    France has covered more than 80 percent of the construction costs and all of the 70 million euro cost overruns.  

    In return, the Russian State Space Agency (Roscomos) will receive tens of millions of euros for each rocket that is built and shipped from its Samara Space Centre.

    "Soyuz will give us a complete range of launchers," Le Gall told Reuters.

    Arianespace plans to launch at least two Soyuz rockets a year from now on in addition to its Ariane-5 heavy-lift launcher, and the rocket series will be completed by a smaller vehicle, Vega, slated for launch next year.

    Contracts for 16 Galileo satellites have already been signed: four with Franco-German maker Astrium and 12 with German company OHB. The Galileo line should have 30 satellites by 2020.

    "I will announce a new tender for the construction of six or eight satellites," Tajani told reporters at the Kourou spaceport. "The signature of the new contract is planned in February."

    Arianespace is principally owned by the French Space Agency (CNES) with 34 percent and Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of European aerospace giant EADS , holding 30 percent.

    Friday's launch follows years of discussions, delays and budget disputes over Galileo since France and Russia agreed in 2003 to co-operate on Soyuz launches.

       Previous Page 1 2 Next Page  

    色综合久久中文色婷婷| 无码粉嫩小泬无套在线观看| 无码国产精品一区二区免费 | 无码任你躁久久久久久老妇| 中文字幕无码高清晰| 精品国精品无码自拍自在线| 中文字幕国产91| 乱人伦中文无码视频在线观看| 无码人妻精品一区二区三 | 亚洲第一中文字幕| 日韩欧国产精品一区综合无码| 中文字幕日韩精品无码内射| 欧美激情中文字幕综合一区| 亚洲免费日韩无码系列| 精品久久久久久久无码| 无码精品国产VA在线观看DVD | 中文字幕7777| 97无码免费人妻超| 少妇人妻无码精品视频| 夜夜添无码试看一区二区三区 | 国产成人无码一区二区三区在线 | 久草中文在线观看| 伊人久久无码中文字幕| 无码国产成人午夜电影在线观看| 蜜芽亚洲av无码精品色午夜| 亚洲va无码手机在线电影| 日本爆乳j罩杯无码视频| 亚洲乱码中文字幕综合234| 久久久99精品成人片中文字幕| 娇小性色xxxxx中文| 人妻中文字系列无码专区| 中文字幕乱偷无码AV先锋| 亚洲VA中文字幕无码毛片| 精品久久久久久中文字幕大豆网| 久久99久久无码毛片一区二区 | 无码人妻精品一区二区三区久久久| 无码人妻丝袜在线视频| 精品国产V无码大片在线看| 伊人久久综合无码成人网| 中文字幕无码AV波多野吉衣| 亚洲AV无码AV男人的天堂|