EU puts second Galileo test satellite into orbit

Brussels: The European Union launched the second and final test satellite for its $5.3-billion rival to the US Global Positioning System on Sunday, brushing off industry doubts over its viability.

The Galileo project, Europe's biggest single space programme, has been plagued by delays and squabbling over funding that ended only when the 27-nation EU agreed to funnel public funds into it.

The experimental satellite, Giove-B, was put into orbit by a Soyuz rocket in Kazakhstan and is due to test technologies for Galileo such as a high-precision atomic clock and the triple-channel transmission of navigation signals, the executive European Commission said in a statement.

"[The project] will be operational in 2013 and already we think this will be profitable," EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said after monitoring the launch from the Fucino control centre in the hills of central Italy.