The Ariane 5 flew for the very last time on Wednesday, July 5, sending government communication satellites for Germany and France into space. Also known as flight VA261, the rocket launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, at 22:00 UTC.
The satellites onboard the Ariane 5 included the Heinrich-Hertz (H2SAT), on behalf of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and the Syracuse 4B, on behalf of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA). Flight VA261 lasted for 33 minutes and 32 seconds from lift-off to the separation of the last satellite, according to Arianespace, the operator of the Ariane 5, and will place the payloads into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).