Rocket Deploys TV, Astronomy Satellites
A French-built Ariane 4 rocket roared into space Tuesday and deployed a communications satellite and a star mapper, officials said.
The liquid-fueled rocket, the most powerful launcher in the European inventory, streaked away from the European Space Agency’s jungle launch complex on the northern coast of South America about 10 hours after the U.S. space shuttle Columbia lifted off in Florida.
The Ariane’s cargo--the West German TV-SAT 2 communications satellite and an astronomy satellite called Hipparcos--were dispatched shortly after liftoff toward their positions in orbit.
Hipparcos, equipped with a reflecting telescope, will be used to accurately measure the positions of thousands of stars, allowing astronomers to create high-detail star maps and to measure the distances to nearby stars.
The launch was the 15th straight success for Arianespace, the European consortium that markets Ariane boosters, and the 29th in 33 missions dating back to 1979.
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