By Xinhua,
Paris : An Ariane 5 ECA launcher carrying a British military satellite and a Turkish telecoms satellite lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport at Kourou, in French Guiana, Thursday night.
The rocket carrying Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A blast off at 2205 GMT Thursday night and the satellites were accurately injected into the geostationary transfer orbits about 30 minutes later, said a statement posted on the website of the European Space Agency.
The launch, which had been slated for May 23, has been postponed twice due to technical hitches.
The Skynet 5C was released for Britain’s Ministry of Defence and Turksat 3A for Turkish telecoms operator Turksat.
Ariane 5 ECA, the latest version of the Ariane 5 launcher, is capable of launching payloads of up to 10 tonnes and dual payloads of very large satellites.