KOUROU, French Guiana - The first commercial Ariane 5 rocket lifted off smoothly from Kourou, French Guiana Friday at 11:32 a.m. local time carrying the European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM) scientific satellite into orbit.
The XMM, built by Daimler Benz Aerospace - Dornier Satellitesysteme GmbH, is the largest scientific satellite built to date in Europe. Ten meters long, and weighing nearly 4 metric tons, it contains a trio of barrel-shaped mirrors nested tightly, one within the other.
The gold-plated satellite mirrors, with a total surface area greater than that of a tennis court, can pick up the distant X-ray echoes of supernovas, galaxies, quasars and vampire stars -- stars in the process of siphoning off matter from neighboring stars that approach too closely.
Two spectrometers will also enable scientists to identify and determine the temperature and composition of objects they are studying.
The spacecraft has been designed to operate for two years in its elongated elliptical orbit, though it will have enough fuel on board to last for up to ten years.
This is the fourth flight of the Ariane 5 and the first this year. The first launch -- on June 4, 1996 -- ended in disaster when a software problem caused an explosion early in the flight.
Successful second and third flights -- on October 30, 1997 and then October 21, 1998 -- helped re-establish the vehicle, which has been specifically designed to attract business from companies building ever-larger communications satellites.
Arianespace aims to reduce the cost of the launcher by 40% and boost both its capacity and versatility. The vehicle launched Friday had a total capacity to loft 6.8 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
By 2005, an improved vehicle will be able to lift 12 metric tons to GTO and will have a new re-startable upper stage engine capable of placing constellations of satellites into orbit in one launch. The company has also streamlined its launch operations with the Ariane 5. For example, Arianespace built a new launch pad capable of being put back into operation almost immediately after an accident.
The next Ariane 5 will launch at the end of February with Worldspaces AsiaStar satellite and the INSAT-3A on board. INSAT is owned by the Indian Space Research Organization.
The launch went off on time despite a brief labor strike by three local unions tying up traffic at some of the facilities. The labor strike was not designed to delay the 145 million-euro launch but to call attention to a desired three-hour cut in the workweek aimed at creating additional jobs in the local economy.
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