An Ariane 5 rocket has been successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, for the 51st time in a row, once again confirming the remarkable reliability of the European launcher developed and built by Astrium.
The fifth Ariane 5 mission of 2012 carried the communications satellite Astra 2F, designed and built by Astrium for the satellite operator SES Astra. The Astra 2F satellite is the 28th Eurostar E3000 satellite built by Astrium and the first in a series of four satellites ordered together from the company.
This flight was a double launch, and also carried the Indian GSAT-10 satellite.
Astrium is single prime contractor for the Ariane 5 system, responsible for delivery of a fully assembled and tested launch vehicle to Arianespace, the commercial launch service provider. The company also supplies all the Ariane 5 stages, equipment bays, flight software and numerous sub-assemblies.

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