The first launch of Russia's Soyuz carrier rocket outside the former Soviet Union has been delayed until Friday.

The Soyuz rocket, with navigation satellites on board, will launch from a new site at the Kourou space center in the jungle of French Guiana, off the Atlantic coast.

The Galileo navigation satellites are expected to curb Europe's dependence on America's GPS system.

European and Russian space officials hope the Soyuz rocket will lift off from the new launch site with people on board in a few years.

Russia's Itar Tass news agency says the French Guiana launch site took six years to build at a cost of $484 million.