Rocket carrying French spy satellite launched

An Ariane rocket lifted off today from a pad in South America to place France’s third military spy satellite into orbit, Arianespace said.

The unmanned craft roared skyward from a launch centre in Kourou, French Guyana, at 1.36pm local time (4.36pm Irish Time) – the third and last launch of an Ariane-5 this year, the space agency said.