The Ariane 5 rocket took off without difficulty from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou on Tuesday, with the MTG-I1 weather satellite and the Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 telecommunications satellites on board. The rocket took off at 5:30 p.m. local time, 9:30 p.m. Paris time, from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana, noted an AFP journalist.
Launched on behalf of the European organization for the exploitation of meteorological satellites Eumetsat, the MTG-I1 satellite will make it possible to quickly detect and predict extreme meteorological episodes in advance in order to alert inhabitants, authorities and rescuers of Europe and Africa.
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Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36, dedicated to telecommunications, have just renewed the fleet of the operator Intelstat for the North American market.
These two satellites will enhance television broadcasting capabilities of major sporting events in the United States and improve the reception of cable channels.
For its third and final mission of the year, Ariane 5 must place the three satellites in geostationary orbit between 27 and 34 minutes after takeoff.
This 115th launcher mission is also one of its last.
Two more Ariane 5 launches are planned next year before its big sister Ariane 6 takes over in the last quarter of 2023.