Ariane 5 roars to space

Posted on: Nov. 17th, 2005 || Source: spaceflightnow.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Europe's most powerful rocket - the Ariane 5-ECA - has launched two satellites from French Guiana.

It roared away from Kourou spaceport with the thrust of 10 Concordes, on cue at 2046 local time (2346GMT).

It was only the third flight for the 780-tonne rocket, which experienced the ignominy of having to be destroyed on its maiden outing in 2002.

The ECA has the power to push 10,000kg of payload towards geostationary orbit, 36,000km above the Earth.

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