CAYENNE, French Guiana, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A European satellite has arrived in French Guiana for a launch on a Soyuz rocket, the first Soyuz launch to be held in South America, officials said.
The Galileo navigation satellite arrived at the Guiana Space Center Wednesday to begin preparations for a launch Oct. 20, a release from the European Space Agency said. It was flown to French Guiana from the Rome facility of Thales Alenia Space Italy, the builder of the satellite.
The October launch will be historic -- the first Soyuz launch from a spaceport outside of Baikonur in Kazakhstan or Plesetsk in Russia.
French Guiana is much closer to the equator, taking advantage of Earth's rotation to increase the maximum payload the Soyuz can put into geostationary transfer orbit from 1.7 tons to 3 tons.
The satellite set for October launch is the first a number of satellites that will form the full Galileo satnav constellation.
