Ariane 3 Rocket Puts Satellites in Orbit
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KOUROU, French Guiana — Europe’s Ariane 3 rocket lifted off on schedule Friday night and placed French and U.S. communications satellites into orbit.
The rocket, owned by the European Space Agency, blasted off from this jungle space center on the northern coast of South America. It marked the 21st launching in the Ariane program and the first of eight planned for this year.
The launch was first scheduled for December but was delayed for extra tests after anomalies were detected in the oxygen and liquid hydrogen third-stage engine.
The rocket thrust into orbit the American GTE Spacenet Corp.’s fifth satellite, Spacenet III R-Geostar R01. The satellite is aimed at increasing the company’s wide-ranging telecommunications services in the United States and helping set up a system of satellite communication with mobile units such as trucks, cars and trains.
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