Hot Bird 7A finally launched from French Guiana

A heavy-lift Ariane-5 rocket put two telecommunications satellites into orbit after a long delayed launch from French Guiana late on Saturday, space officials said.

The rocket blasted-off from Europe's space base in Kourou, on the northeast coast of South America at 2232 UTC. Initially due to be launched on February 21, the mission was delayed three times because of technical problems.

One of the two satellites launched is Hot Bird 7A, a 4.1 tonne satellite for Paris-based telecoms operator Eutelsat. Hot Bird will provide telephone, data and video transmissions across throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from its position of 13 degrees East. It was built by an industrial team led by Alcatel Alenia space.

Eutelsat officials said Hot Bird was one of the first satellites on the market broadcasting digital high definition television.

Source: Media Network, Reuters

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