French military satellite shot into space

PARIS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The delayed French observation satellite Helios 2B was finally launched atop Arianne 5 rocket into space on Friday by Arianespace center from Kourou launch site in French Guiana, Southern America, the live broadcast reaching here showed.

The Arianne 5 rocket lifts off into space with the French observation  satellite Helios 2B by Arianespace center from Kourou launch site in  French Guiana, Southern America, Dec. 18, 2009.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The Ariane 5 rocket carrying the military satellite lifted off at 1626 GMT Friday. The mission, initially scheduled to be launched on Dec. 9, has been postponed two times. The latest on Thursday halted the countdown during the final minutes as an incoherence of records emerged.

The 4.2-ton Helios 2B satellite, heading into sun-synchronous polar orbit, will enable French Defense Ministry to access to better images and identification on sites, areas of military interest during its around the clock service.

A French official at the launch site said that the satellite would be "eyes of our defense system" and reinforce France's capability to develop new intelligent system in the future.

Nearly an hour after the lift-off, the satellite, separated from the last segment of the carrier rocket, was confirmed having reached the right temporary orbit successfully, guaranteeing its final destination.

The military spy satellite will be the first such launch under French President Nicolas Sarkozy and is part of the second- generation observation system for security and defense applications developed by France in collaboration with Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece.

French defense procurement agency DGA takes the responsibility to run the program and missioned the space segment to French space agency CNES, which is the biggest shareholder of Arianespace center.

As to the intelligence information captured by the new satellite, France has signed sharing contracts with Italy and Germany, local media reported.