The World - News from Dec. 11, 1988

Western Europe’s Ariane space rocket was launched successfully from its French Guiana base carrying two telecommunications satellites, officials said. The 197-foot Ariane-4, the biggest ever launched by Europe, blasted into the South American sky from the facility at Kourou at 9:33 p.m. (4:33 p.m. PST), 24 hours after the original liftoff was postponed because of a faulty sensor. The rocket, making its first commercial flight, later placed a British military craft and a West European television satellite into orbit.