Ariane 5 ECA - VA222 Launch - Thor-7 & Sicral-2 - April 26, 2015

Coming back from a series of delays, Europe’s Ariane 5 workhorse blasted off from the ELA-3 launch site at the Guiana Space Center at 20:00 UTC on Sunday, carrying a pair of communications satellite to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Making its year-opening launch, Ariane 5 performed as planned, achieving its 64th consecutive success, heading into the expected orbit for the separation of the Thor-7 and Sicral-2 satellites 34 minutes after liftoff.

The two satellites launched on Sunday are very different in nature – Thor-7 is operated commercially to deliver a variety of data services to Europe and surrounding regions as well as maritime communications while the Sicral-2 satellite is operated by Italy and France to be used for secure UHF/SHF communications in tactical applications.

Video Credit: Arianespace