A European Ariane 5 rocket saddled with two communications satellites is set to launch today (Aug. 2) from French Guiana.
The rocket has been rolled out to its launch pad at the Guiana Space Center and is scheduled to lift off between 5:54 p.m. and 6:51 p.m. local time (4:54 p.m. and 5:51 p.m. EDT, or 2054 and 2151 GMT), according to a statement from France-based launch company Arianespace.
The Ariane 5 booster will haul into space the HYLAS 2, a commercial satellite built by Orbital Sciences Corp. that features a Ka-band communications payload to provide data and video services to Eastern and Southern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The rocket will also carry the Intelsat 20, a satellite built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., to provide data capacity to European, Middle Eastern and African customers.
Intelsat 20 will be deployed first, 28 minutes after liftoff, and HYLAS 2 will be released 34 minutes into the flight, Arianespace officials said.
A successful launch would mark the fourth Ariane 5 mission of 2012, and the rocket family's 208th flight since 1979. Arianespace's last launch, on July 5, carried an American communications satellite and a European weather-monitoring satellite into orbit.
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