Picture made available early 12 March 20

Kourou, FRENCH GUIANA: Picture made available early 12 March 2006 by the European Spaceport shows the launch of Ariane 5 ECA from the European Space Station in Kourou, French Guiana. An Ariane 5 rocket launched two European telecoms satellites, including Spain's first dedicated military satellite, into orbit after three previous launch failures. The satellites took off 11 March 2006 at 2233 GMT aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA rocket, a heavy-duty version of the European Space Agency's (ESA) workhorse Ariane 5 series .The successful launch, the 26th for Arianespace, placed into orbit the payload comprising the 3.7-tonne US-built Spainsat, the first Spanish satellite dedicated to secure government communications, and the 4.1-tonne Hot Bird 7A, a TV and radio relay satellite for the European consortium Eutelsat. AFP PHOTO ARIANE ESPACE (Photo credit should read HO/AFP via Getty Images)