In this photo provided Friday Oct. 2, 2009 by the European Space Agency (ESA),
the Ariane 5 rocket takes off in Kourou, French Guiana, Thursday night Oct. 1,
2009. The European rocket placed into orbit the civilian Amazonas 2 satellite
for Spain's Hispasat, along with the German COMSATBw-1 military
telecommunications platform.
PARIS, Oct. 1 -- Two telecommunications satellites Amanzonas 2 and COMSATBw-1
are successfully launched into space aboard rocket Ariane 5 from the spaceport
in French Guiana Thursday, the live webcast of Arianespace headquartered near
Paris showed.
The launcher Ariane 5 ECA, ignited in the South American jungle (2159 GMT), took
off with a total lift performance of 9,087 kg, which includes 7,905 kg for the
pair of satellites.
The Amanzonas 2 spacecraft parted first, around 27 minutes after the liftoff.
Nearly six minutes later, COMSATBw-1 was spat into space. They are scheduled to
enter eostationary transfer orbits in a few days, each with a lifetime of 15
years.
In this photo provided Friday Oct. 2, 2009 by the European Space Agency (ESA),
the Ariane 5 rocket takes off in Kourou, French Guiana, Thursday night Oct. 1,
2009.
The first separated one is to be used by the Spanish-based HISPASAT
telecommunications operator for civilian services covering an area extending
from Alaska of United States to Tierra del Fuego, the south area of South
America.
COMSATBw-1 will undertake military mission for German Armed Forces, or the
Bundeswehr. It is to handle secure information, including voice, fax, data,
video and multimedia applications, foruse by units on deployed missions,
covering the area extending from America to eastern Asia.
"Since the beginning of the year, we've launched seven commercial satellites ...
which once again is a world record," the Ariancespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves
Le Gall said after the launch.
The liftoff on Thursday is the 191st launch of an Ariane vehicle since the
launcher station began operation in 1979.
(Xinhua)
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