A European Ariane 5 rocket fired into a gloomy sky Thursday over French Guiana and streaked into space from the tropical launch base with 2.9 million pounds of thrust from two solid rocket boosters and a hydrogen-fueled Vulcain 2 main engine.
Imagery released by Arianespace and CNES — operator of the Ariane 5 rocket and the Guiana Space Center, respectively — illustrate the fiery power of the Ariane 5 rocket.
The nearly 180-foot-tall (54.8-meter) rocket lifted off at 6:05 p.m. French Guiana time (4:05 p.m. EST; 2105 GMT) on Jan. 16, about a half-hour before sunset at the remote jungle space base located on the northeastern shore of South America.
The Ariane 5 delivered the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT 30 communications satellites into orbit for Paris-based Eutelsat and the Indian Space Research Organization.
A highlights video and spectacular still images from the Ariane 5 launch are posted below.
Read more about the mission.
Video credit: Arianespace
Email the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
