Kourou (dpa) – The last European Ariane 5 heavy lift rocket has taken off from the European space centre in Kourou in French Guiana. It transported a German telecommunications satellite named “Heinrich Hertz” and a French military satellite into space. It was the 117th launch of an Ariane 5 rocket since 1997. Over its long history, it became a global market leader for transporting telecommunications satellites while at the same time securing European access to space. The heavy lift rocket’s most important missions have included carrying the James Webb Telescope, the successor to Hubble in 2021. It has also launched the BepiColombo probe to Mercury in 2018 and the Galileo satellites which ensured European independence in the field of navigation. In future, its role is to be taken over by the Ariane 6.