One of about 30 satellites to be installed as part of the EU Galileo programme could bear the name of a Maltese child in a competition to be launched in October.

Children aged nine to 11 are being invited to make a drawing related to space and aeronautics, scan it or take a digital photograph of it and upload at www.gallileocontest.eu. A jury will then choose the best drawing and the winning child will give his/her name to one of Galileo satellites.

The satellites will start being launched next year and the exercise is expected to be completed by 2019. Each member state will have the opportunity to name a satellite. The first two will be called Thijs, after a Belgian boy, and Natalia, a Bulgarian girl.

Galileo is the EU’s response to the US-based global positioning system (GPS) allowing the bloc to operate independently of the American system.

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