In a crucial mission for Europe's space programme, an upgraded Ariane-5 rocket successfully orbited into space two satellites yesterday, two years after a first attempt ended in failure.
Space officials said the Ariane-5 lifted off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America just after 9 p.m. (Irish time).
Twenty-six minutes after launch, space officials said the XTAR-EUR satellite separated from the rocket. This was followed five minutes later by the separation of the second satellite SLOSHSAT.
A first attempt to launch an upgraded Ariane-5 in December 2002 failed when the rocket veered off course and was destroyed by ground control. An inquiry board determined that a malfunction in the cooling system of the rocket's Vulcain engine was to blame, which destroyed Ariane's half-billion dollar satellite payload.
The upgraded version of Ariane-5 is capable of launching communication satellite payloads of up to tenmetric tonnes.
The current "Generic" version of Ariane-5, first launched in 1996, has a maximum capacity to launch payload of up to 6.8 metric tonnes.
The added capacity is essential to lower launch costs in an industry that has experienced a downturn, largely due to increased competition and shrinking demand for communications satellites.