[ Ссылка ] A Russian Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana, carrying the first of Europe's two Galileo satellites.



The launch from Europe's space base in South America is the first Soyuz rocket to take off from outside the former Soviet Union.



The launch was delayed from Thursday after a leaky valve was detected in the rockets fueling system.



Once fully operational, the Galileo satellite aims to give Europeans autonomy from the US government controlled Global Positioning System.



Russia says it completed a similar system earlier this month.

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