Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has lifted off after three earlier delays, carrying the world's largest commercial telecoms satellite.
The launch went ahead successfully at 0044GMT on Sunday from the Koukou site in French Guiana.
The six-tonne Canadian-owned Anik F2 satellite will deliver broadband internet access and other digital services to North America.
The spacecraft has a solar array that will span 48m once deployed in orbit.
The launch had originally been planned for Monday, but a technical problem forced a three-day delay. Poor weather and another "anomaly" caused two more 24-hour postponements.
This is the 19th flight for the Ariane 5 and the first since March.
The vehicle is currently the only launch system offered directly by Arianespace, now that its Ariane 4 series has been retired.
However, contracts have been signed that will see a launch pad built at Kourou to enable Arianespace to offer Russian Soyuz rockets to customers.
A smaller rocket system for lighter payloads called Vega is also in development.
The Ariane 5 has been winning back market confidence after suffering a major failure in December 2002, when a heavy-lift version of the rocket veered off course and auto-destructed four minutes into its flight.
Despite the set back and the grounding of the Ariane 5 for much of 2003, Arianespace continues to be the dominant player in the world's commercial satellite launch market.
In May, Arianespace and EADS-Space Transportation signed a contract which will see the construction of 30 Ariane 5 launch vehicles. The value of the order is about 3bn euros (£2bn).
Up in the Wild Blue Yonder
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