This evening, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, Arabsat-5C and SES-2, into their planned transfer orbits.

Liftoff of flight VA204, the 60th Ariane 5 mission, came at 23:38 CEST (21:38 GMT; 18:38 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 249.6 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 957 km and an inclination of 2º.

The satellites were accurately injected into their transfer orbits about 27 minutes and 35 minutes after liftoff, respectively.

Arabsat-5C will be positioned above the equator at 20°E. It will deliver communications and television broadcast services to the Middle East and North Africa.

SES-2, to be positioned over 87°W, will broadcast programming for leading television stations through one of the largest distribution networks. It will also provide VSAT services for professional customers and government agencies in North America and the Caribbean.

The payload mass for this launch was 8974 kg; the satellites totalled 7830 kg, with payload adapters and dispensers making up the additional 1144 kg.