SPOT 5 Launched on Board Ariane Rocket

An Ariane 4 rocket blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana Saturday morning at 0131 GMT (9:31 pm EDT Friday), carrying a French-built SPOT 5 remote sensing satellite. The spacecraft separated from the booster 19 minutes after launch and was placed into an 810-km Sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite will provide high-resolution images of the Earth's surface at a resolution of 2.5 metres. This was Arianespace's 200th rocket launch.