It has taken ten years and billions of euros, but Europe's state-of-the art Galileo project is finally getting off the ground.
 
Galileo, funded by the European Union, is the world's first satellite system designed purely for civilian use and is set to improve air safety, meteorology and even search-and-rescue missions.

RNW video: Galileo is here!
 
But for many Europeans the greatest benefits will be behind the wheel (see box below for other features). Drivers will no longer be left tearing their hair out as their in-car Sat Nav loses its signal - for Galileo is expected to improve substantially the availability and accuracy of navigation signals delivered from space. Dutchman Paul Verhoef, Galileo project manager at the European Commission:
 
"Europeans will really see the difference, because the signal will be far more precise and available everywhere. But there are very many other applications too."

Robots and tractors
An open-air exhibition held in Brussels to show off Galileo's potential featured  six-legged robots blinking alongside mini-helicopters that will all be able to perform a number of high-precision tasks. Further along, a team wearing lifejackets and sailing attire were showing off a small yellow device that could save lives at sea, as one expert explained:
 
"Any sailor, diver or fisherman wearing this device can be found and rescued. It will send out precise location details of the person back to the ship in a flash. It's far more precise than anything around today."
 
Behind him, a German engineer pointed at a gigantic tractor and said: "This machine has a GPS signal that will tell a farmer exactly where to sow seeds or spray his pesticides. He'll be able to optimise every centimetre of his field and boost his revenues by tens of thousands of euros." 
 
High-tech boom
Mr Verhoef predicts there will be a massive market to develop new applications and devices using Galileo. "We've calculated that the sat nav market will be worth around 250 million euros a year in 20 years' time. This will create a massive demand for new companies and creative people, and Europe will benefit from that."
 
However, instead of going into orbit, Galileo nearly sunk into oblivion in 2007, with the collapse of the private consortium that was meant to build and run the network. The EU Commission then had to scramble for support from reluctant EU member states to back what seemed to many a frivolous, abstract project.
 
Paul Verhoef: "There is always scepticism when you try to push new technologies. In the past, people said they didn't need the telephone because they had pigeons to do the job. So people need to know what it's for and how it works."
 
"We hope there'll be a real push forward for technology."
 
Galileo, which has cost around six billions euros to date, will eventually have 30 satellites in space. In the meantime, its signals will be inter-operable with those of GPS and GLONASS, the two existing military systems developed by the US and Russia respectively.