Ariane rocket launches two satellites from French Guiana

An Ariane rocket has orbited two telecommunications satellites after a launch from French Guiana on Friday, space officials said.

The Ariane-5 rocket blasted-off from the European Space Agency's launch centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America at 7.01pm (2201 GMT).

Initially scheduled for launch in March, a series of technical glitches forced the mission to be postponed three times.

Twenty-seven minutes after lift-off the Astra 3B satellite separated from the Ariane rocket.

Astra-3B will provide direct-to-home television and telecommunications services throughout Europe for Luxembourg-based telecommunications operator SES SA.

The satellite weighed 5.5 metric tonnes at launch and was built by Astrium the satellite manufacturing unit of European aerospace giant EADS.

Six minutes later COMSATBw-2 was released from the rocket. This satellite will provide secure communications for Germany's defence forces throughout the Americas and the Far East. It weighed 2.5 tonnes and was built by Thales Alenia Space.

Friday's launch was the 36th consecutive success of an Ariane rocket.