E-Bird launch - flight V162 from Kourou.
Ariane flight V162 launched on 27th September 2003 from Kourou spaceport. Lift off was at 2315 UTC.
The flight carried Eutelsat e-Bird, the Indian Insat 3E, and the European lunar exploration craft SMART 1. This flight was the first time that an Ariane launch had put 3 big satellites into orbit from one rocket.
Ariane V162 roars off the launch pad. Insat 3E was at the top of the stack, and was released first. The middle cargo was e-Bird, and last to be released was SMART 1.
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