2010 concludes with Ariane rocket's 199th launch

Two commercial satellites for the expansion of communications services from space were launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket today, capping another successful year for the booster that saw a dozen payloads deployed in 2010. The hydrogen-fueled main engine roared to life at 2127 GMT (4:27 p.m. EST), followed seven seconds later by ignition of the twin solid rocket motors to begin thundering out of the Guiana Space Center in Kourou on the northeastern coast of South America. The heavy-lift launcher, making its 55th flight, climbed steeply through the late afternoon sky and headed downrange for a half-hour trek into geosynchronous transfer orbit to deliver the Spanish Hispasat 1E and South Korea's Koreasat 6 spacecraft. More

(Source: Space Flight Now - Dec 30)