On 20 August 2015, Ariane 5 flight VA225 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and delivered two telecom satellites, Eutelsat-8 West B and Intelsat-34, into their planned orbits. – Photo © ESA; Id 345766

An Ariane 5 lifted off this week from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, and delivered two telecom satellites into their planned orbits. The launch of flight VA225 occurred on 20 August at 2034 GMT (2234 CEST, 1734 local time).

Eutelsat-8 West B, with a mass of 5782 kg and mounted in the upper position atop Ariane’s Sylda dual-payload carrier, was the first to be released about 28 minutes into the mission. Following a series of burns controlled by Ariane’s computer, the Sylda structure encasing the 3300 kg Intelsat-34 was then jettisoned. Intelsat-34 was released into its own transfer orbit about 13 minutes after the first satellite.