MOSCOW, January 16 (Sputnik) – Six satellites from Europe's own global navigation satellite system Galileo are to be put into orbit in 2015, European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said Friday.
"The launch of six [navigation] satellites is scheduled for 2015. The Commission will determine the terms of the launches at the end of January," Dordain said at a press briefing.
He also added that the satellites will be put into orbit by Ariane 5 and Soyuz carrier rockets.
Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) project, jointly implemented by the European Union and the ESA. It bears the name of the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.
One of the aims of the Galileo project is to seek an alternative to Russia's GLONASS satellite navigation system and American Global Positioning System (GPS).
