Brussels, 11/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Galileo's third and fourth satellites are to be launched during the night of Friday to Saturday. Once more they will be launched from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana, and placed in orbit onboard a Soyuz rocket operated by Arianespace. The resulting initial constellation of four satellites will allow the system to be validated and fine-tuned. Launches should then be speeded up in order to reach a final constellation of 22 satellites by the end of next year, so that the first services are up and running by 2014. This has prompted the European commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, to say that the Galileo programme is sticking to its promises. He states that “Galileo provides a real opportunity for businesses producing satellite-based products and applications. European industry should be ready to seize a vast market which is there for the taking. Such space investments are urgently needed in the current economic situation”. Investments in satellite navigation are expected to allow European industry to have access to a global market estimated at €250 billion for 2020, thanks, for example, to the creation of applications in electrical networks or financial transactions. These opportunities could have economic repercussions of around €90 billion over the next 20 years. (MD/transl.jl)