Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket successfully launched its first pair of Galileo navigation satellites on Wednesday, Dec. 17, from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana.

The satellites, part of Europe’s GPS-equivalent constellation, will deploy about 3 hours and 20 minutes after liftoff and undergo a four-month positioning phase before becoming operational.

Most previous Galileo satellites were launched on Ariane 5 or Russian Soyuz rockets, with Europe briefly using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 after the Ukraine invasion disrupted reliance on Russian launchers.

With Ariane 6 now operational, Europe can independently launch its Galileo satellites without relying on foreign providers, Space.com has reported.

This marks the rocket’s fifth flight, following four successful launches over the past year.