A Japanese civilian communications satellite and a French military communications satellite was put into orbit via an Ariane-5 rocket. The launch happened in French Guiana, at Europe's space base in Kourou, on the northeast coast of South America.

Aboard the blasted rocket was a JCSAT-10 satellite for Japan's JSAT Corporation. Built by Lockheed Martin in the United States, the satellite - released into the orbit twenty-seven minutes after the launch - was designed to broadcast high definition television to the Asia-Pacific region. Explained by JSAT Corporation officials, it would be the "Sky Perfect TV" system that broadcasts 251 television channels.

Five minutes later, Syracuse 3B, a military communications satellite built by a European industrial consortium for France's Defense Ministry, was released as well into space. According to the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA), it was necessary to have a dedicated military communications satellite network as satellites shared with civilian operators risked being immobilized by relatively unsophisticated means.

The Ariane-5 rocket was the third to be launched this year.