An Ariane 5 rocket took off Thursday at 22:30 local time (20:30 GMT) from the Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, and carrying two communications satellites.

This is the fourth launch of the Ariane 5 in 2013, which had put into orbit the EUTELSAT satellite 25B/Es’ hail 1 and GSAT-7, said statement released by the European launch company Arianespace.

According to Arianespace, EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail 1 – a ground-breaking partnership between Eutelsat and the Doha-based Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company – marked a historic moment for the Qatari operator as it is the first satellite of its planned global fleet.

Operating from a position of 25.5 deg. East, EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail 1, will provide coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia for both Eutelsat and Es’hailSat, delivering Ku-band television broadcasting, telecommunications and government services for this area, while its Ka-band capability will open new business opportunities for the two operators.

The GSAT-7, developed by the Indian Space Research Organization is based on India’s I-2K spacecraft bus and will provide relay capacity in UHF, S-band, C-band and Ku-band from 74 deg. East longitude for the Indian subcontinent, during its design life of seven years.