Take a walk around the Ariane 5 launch pad in French Guiana after the 16-story rocket arrived at the complex for liftoff Thursday with four European Galileo navigation satellites.
Read our launch preview for more information on the mission.
Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. BarbasteCredit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. BarbasteCredit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste
A pair of Earth-imaging satellites for the Italian military and a French-Israeli environmental monitoring project lifted off from French Guiana aboard a European Vega rocket at 0158:33 GMT Wednesday (9:58:33 p.m. EDT Tuesday).
Topped with Brazilian and Japanese television broadcasting satellites, an Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to its launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, a day before its scheduled blastoff on the way to geostationary transfer orbit.
Two more Galileo satellites successfully catapulted into space from the French Guiana jungle aboard a Soyuz rocket Tuesday, putting Europe’s multibillion-dollar navigation system on track to begin limited global service later this year.
