The European Space Agency has sent a test satellite into orbit from Kazakhstan as part of a €3.5bn project to set up a new global navigation system.
Called Galileo, it will rival the US GPS system and promises to generate 140,000 jobs within the European Union.
Galileo is scheduled to go into service in 2008 and will eventually have 30 satellites for mostly civilian uses ranging from driver assistance to search-and-rescue help.
