Launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 28 April 1998 at 22:53:00 UTC by Arianespace, it was manufactured by the European company Matra Marconi Space (Astrium), and started official broadcasting on 31 May 1998 with an Expected Life Time of 15 years.
Later it joined the ESA, but not the launcher consortium Arianespace, therefore becoming the only nation that developed launch capability and then officially lost it.