W. German Satellite Boosted Into Space by Ariane Rocket
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KOUROU, French Guiana — Europe’s Ariane 2 rocket lifted off on schedule Friday night and successfully boosted a West German telecommunications satellite into space, officials said.
The launch was the 20th in the Ariane series and the European Space Agency’s second after a 16-month layoff caused by problems with the rocket’s third stage, officials said. The Ariane program went back into business in September when the 19th launch placed European and Australian communications satellites into orbit.
Officials called the launch a “full success” and “perfectly nominal,” meaning all procedures went off without a hitch.
The latest launch originally had been scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed because of a fault in an electronic component of the rocket’s guidance system.
The satellite, to go on line early next year, will give about 100 million Europeans--mostly West Germans--four new television channels.
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