#Photos: On-time launch for first Ariane 5 flight of the year

Launching with two communications satellites to broadcast television to Brazilian homes and connect the islands of Indonesia, an Ariane 5 rocket blasted off from a space base at the northern edge of the Amazon jungle Tuesday, the first of seven planned flights by the European-built booster this year.

The Ariane 5 ECA, towering 180 feet (55 meters) tall, lifted off at 2139 GMT (4:39 p.m. EST; 6:39 p.m. French Guiana time) Tuesday atop 2.9 million pounds of thrust from its Vulcain 2 main engine and two solid rocket boosters.

The Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3 communications satellites were deployed into an on-target orbit less than 40 minutes after liftoff.

Read our full story on the launch for details.

The images below were captured by remote cameras near the ELA-3 launch zone, from the Toucan viewing site around 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the pad, and from Hotel des Roches in nearby Kourou, French Guiana.

Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – OV
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

from Spaceflight Now bit.ly/2laqyyM

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