Ariane 5 successfully lofted a pair of Thales Alenia Space-produced satellites from the Spaceport in French Guiana today – marking the heavy-lift vehicle’s 38th consecutive on-target mission. Lifting off from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone, the Ariane 5 ECA orbited two satellites that will provide telecommunications services to Africa, the Middle East and Persian Gulf states: NILESAT 201 for Egyptian-based Nilesat, and RASCOM-QAF1R for the Pan-African satellite operator, RascomStar-QAF.