Successful launch for Ariane rocket

Ariane will provide digital TV signals to Britain

KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) -- Western Europe's new generation Ariane-5 rocket has placed three satellites into space after a textbook launch from equatorial French Guiana.

The rocket blasted off at 9.26 p.m. on Tuesday (0026 GMT Wednesday) from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch centre in Kourou on the north-east coast of South America.

Officials at the Arianespace rocket launch company said the ASTRA 2D satellite, which will provide digital television broadcasting to Britain, separated from the rocket 28 minutes after lift-off.

Experts have estimated the cost of the satellite, launch and insurance at over $85 million.

Five minutes later, the rocket released the GE-8 which will provide telecommunications services across the United States.

This satellite was built in California by Lockheed Martin and is designed to operate for 15 years. The estimated cost of the GE-8 satellite, launch and insurance is over $125 million.

LDREX, an experimental antenna for future satellite technology and built for Japan's national space agency, separated from the rocket 64 minutes after take-off.

The launch was the 12th and final Ariane mission this year and was the eighth mission of the new generation Ariane-5 rocket.

Ariane-5 is designed to launch the heaviest commercial satellites as well as transporting units of the international space station and scientific projects.

It is expected to replace the older generation Ariane-4 rocket series over the next three years.

But Ariane-5's career began with a spectacular failure during its maiden test launch in June 1996, exploding 37 seconds after lift-off and sending four uninsured scientific satellites worth $500 million plunging into mangrove swamps on French Guiana's coast.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Arianespace
European Space Agency
Ariane-5

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