On 9th September the European Space Agency advised that the first Galileo navigation satellite had arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, ready to begin preparations for launch on 20th October.

The satellite is due to be launched aboard a Soyuz ST-B vehicle on 20th October, together with a second Galileo that is now being readied for its own flight to French Guiana. This will be the first launch of Russia’s workhorse Soyuz rocket from French Guiana and will take place from a new facility 13 km northwest of the Ariane 5 launch site.