Ariane 5 ECA launches Horizons 3e Azerspace-2-Intelsat 38 satellites

An undisclosed issue brought the countdown clock to a halt 94 seconds before the targeted launch time of 5:53 p.m. EDT (2153 GMT; 6:53 p.m. local time at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana). The webcast of the French company Arianespace, which boasted more than 3,000 viewers at that point, suddenly went silent as a scrolling banner relayed that the launch was on hold. Few updates followed for the next 45 minutes. But at the end of tonight’s launch window — 6:38 p.m. EDT (2238 pm GMT; 7:38 p.m. local time) — the Ariane 5 rose into the dark sky, lighting up banks of clouds shrouding the humid launch pad. The rocket sped into space, first deploying one satellite and then the other. Arianespace mission control at the Guiana Space Center erupted in applause as the second spacecraft successfully deployed around 7:20 p.m. EDT (2320 GMT; 8:20 p.m. local time). “The heavyweight launcher has once more performed flawlessly. Congratulations to all,“ Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said in a speech broadcast on the