European Ariane rocket successfully launches 4 satellites

A European Ariane 5 ECA rocket successfully launched two telecommunications satellites and a pair of military payloads Thursday evening. The rocket, carrying the Hot Bird 10 and NSS-9 telecommunication satellites, and the Spirale A and Spirale B spacecraft, lifted off from Europe's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana at 22:09 GMT Thursday, sending them into orbit. This is the 187th launch of an Ariane launcher, and the first launch in 2009, following six flights performed by Arianespace in 2008. More

(Source: Xinhua - Feb 13)