Brussels, 21/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Three - two - one - zero - lift-off. Galileo has been in space since Friday 21 October, when the first two satellites of the new European satellite navigation service were put into orbit from the European launch base of Kourou in French Guiana. The launch was welcomed by the European institutions, which have always supported the European space programme, but it cannot hide the additional costs and the years of delay Galileo built up right until the very last minute. Take-off was delayed, having been initially scheduled for Thursday 20 October, but an anomaly in the fuel supply forces Arianespace to delay the launch of the satellites by 24 hours.
This last minute hiccup did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, however, for this “major step for Europe and its citizens. It is of strategic importance, not only for the competitiveness of our industry and for job creation, but also to ensure Europe's independence in space technology and policy. By starting to provide in 2014 a full range of services to all European citizens, our global navigation satellite system will improve our daily lives: its precision positioning will increase our mobility; its interoperable Safety-of-Life service will make transport around the world safer; it will bring us more secure banking transactions and more reliable electricity provisions; it will make civil protection more robust and will help saving lives in remote areas thanks to its search and rescue capacity”. This was a view shared by European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, who added that “Galileo could deliver around €60 billion to the EU economy over the first 20 years of operations”. He acknowledged, however, that the “lead-up had been challenging and filled with anticipation. The project has endured numerous obstacles and delays along the way, and for this reason, I am all the more pleased to welcome its inauguration”. These obstacles have been strongly criticised and summarised by MEP Marta Andreasen (EFD, UK), who said that only the EU would dare celebrate the overspend of several billions that is the Galileo fiasco. Instead of celebrating, she said, the Commission president and MEPs who backed the project should be publicly apologising to taxpayers for this shocking waste of time, money and resources.
These were reproaches that European Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani attempted to temper, stating that, in abiding by the timing for the first launch, additional costs had been avoided. To maintain the impetus, he hopes very shortly to issue a further call for offers for more satellites to complete the constellation of 30 Galileo satellite. He also welcomed the excellent cooperation of Russia, which provided the Soyuz launcher. He especially wanted to portray the success of Galileo as a message of hope. He said he believes that Europe has demonstrated sound governance on space matters and that this provides a strong message in the days before the European Council is due to discuss economic governance. (MD/transl.rt)