ASTRA-2D LAUNCHED NEXT YEAR BY AN ARIANE ROCKET.

The digital television satellite Astra-2D, of the Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES), will be put into orbit next year by an Ariane rocket, under a contract signed on October 13 by SES and the satellite constructor Arianespace. The contract was initialled at the Telecom 1999 exhibition in Geneva. The launch, by an Ariane-4 or an Ariane-5, is scheduled for the end of 2000, from the Space Centre at Kourou, in French Guyana. Three other satellites from SES, which is based in Betzdorf (Luxembourg), should also be put into orbit shortly by European rockets: Astra-1K...