Ariane 5 lifts off from French Guiana

     PARIS, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Heavy-load launcher Ariane 5, carrying two communication satellites GSAT-8 and ST-2, lifted off at around 22:38 p.m. Paris time (GMT 2038) on Friday from Europe' s Spaceport in French Guiana.

    Built by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Company, ST-2 will offer Ku-and C-band relay services across the Middle East, Central Asia, India and Southeast Asia to the ST-2 Satellite Ventures joint¹ company of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) and Taiwan' s Chunghwa Telecom Company Ltd..

    With a weight around 5.1 tons at launch, ST-2 was separated first around 27 minutes after the lift-off. It has a designed life of 15 years and will function at 88 degree East.

    The lighter² passenger GSAT-8, built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), will serve to augment³ India's Ku- band relay capabilities⁴ and offer aircraft navigation assistance over Indian airspace and adjoining areas with its two-channel GAGAN system.

    GSAT-8 was expected to be ejected off around 31 minutes into the flight and will be orbited at 55 degree East. Weighed about 3. 1 tons, it has a designed life span of at least 12 years.

    Arianespace started its 2011 busy year for heavy-lift Ariane 5 with the milestone⁵ launch of Europe's second Automated⁶ Transfer Vehicle (ATV) on February 16.

    The next launch of Ariane 5 planned to lift off two TV broadcast and telecommunications relay satellites: BSAT-3c/JCSAT- 110R for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, and ASTRA 1N for Luxemburg-based SES company.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

3 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

6 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。