Ariane 5 Blasts Off at Sunset on Heavy-Haul with Japanese & U.S.-Built Communications Satellite Pair

Loaded with a payload mass of over ten metric tons, Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket pierced into the twilight haze over French Guiana on Thursday on a flight to redeem itself after a nail-biting mission in January that saw the rocket take a wrong turn and lift its passengers into an erroneous orbit.