PARIS, Aug. 11 -- Arianespace has successfully placed Brazilian and Turkish telecommunications satellites into orbit from its 66th commercial space rocket, the European consortium announced Thursday. It was the third Ariane rocket within two months to blast off from the European Space Agency's launch complex in the jungles of French Guiana.
The rocket roared into space at 2305 GMT Wednesday, Ariannespace said in a statement in Paris. The launch was originally scheduled for July 31, but was postponed because of technical problems. 'Flight 66 was a challenge to the professional skills of all Ariane industrial teams,' Arianespace Chairman Charles Bigot said at the launch site. 'Thanks to the rigorous quality controls carried out here in Kourou, the accuracy of a sensitive diagnosis concerning an unexpected incident, and work that was both fast and efficient, we have been able to carry out three launches in less than two months,' the Arianespace statement quoted Bigot as saying. The latest rocket placed into orbit two telecommunications satellites, from Brazil and Turkey. The Brasilsat-B1 is the first of a second generation of satellites built by the U.S. aerospace firm Hughes Space and Communications for the Brazilian firm Embratel. The Turksat-1B of Turkey's Post and Telecommunications Ministry is a replacement for one which was destroyed along with a European satellite when the Ariane-63 rocket crashed into the sea minutes after takeoff last January.
