Ariane 5 Mission Status Center

A Brazilian television broadcasting satellite and Europe’s next weather observatory packaged atop an Ariane 5 rocket lifted off at 2142 GMT (5:42 p.m. EDT) Wednesday from Kourou, French Guiana.

Two satellites equipped to broadcast television programming to millions of homes across the United States and Latin America are braced for launch from French Guiana on Wednesday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

If you plan to watch athletes compete on the track or in the water during this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, there’s a good chance the television signals will be relayed from Brazil using a new Eutelsat communications satellite launched Wednesday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.