Ariane rocket to launch French spy satellite

France plans to launch a military spy satellite on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, as Paris boosts spending on its independent surveillance from space despite closer military co-operation with the United States. This will be the first such launch under President Nicolas Sarkozy who brought France back into NATO's military command earlier this year, following a 40-year partial rift with the military alliance. The satellite, Helios 2B is slated to blast off on a European Ariane rocket at 1:26 p.m. (1626 GMT) on Wednesday from the European Space Agency launch site in French Guiana. More

(Source: Reuters India - Dec 8)