Ariane 5 is go: Skynet 5B military chat-sat on the way

[Rick]

The British military communications satellite Skynet 5B launched successfully from Kourou in French Guiana at 2206 GMT last night. The spacecraft will complete the UK armed forces' planned new generation of orbital communications coverage.

Skynet 5B was supposed to launch on Friday, but technical hitches affecting the Ariane V ECA heavy-lift rocket delayed the lift-off until Wednesday evening. Problems overcome, the booster successfully sent both the Skynet spacecraft and a Brazilian telecomms platform on their journey to geostationary orbit.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/15/skynet_5b_launch/

[Ian]

did they say when it'd due to become self aware? Just so as we know...

[Rick]

The 5B satellite will take about 20 days to settle into its new geostationary orbit at 53 degrees East of Greenwich.

So that'd be just in time for DSC.