Posted: Fri, Dec 19, 2014, 8:22 AM ET (1322 GMT)
A Soyuz rocket placed four satellites for a communications network into orbit on Thursday. The Soyuz ST-B rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana at 1:37 pm EST (3:37 pm local time, 1837 GMT) Thursday carrying a third batch of four satellite for O3b Networks. The four satellites separated from the Fregat upper stage nearly two and a half hours later. The four satellites, built by Thales Alenia Space and weighing 700 kilograms each, will provide broadband Internet services from an orbit of nearly 8,000 kilometers. These satellites join four launched in July and four others launched in mid-2013.

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