The Ariane 5 blasts off from the ground at the French Guyana European Spaceport of Kourou on June 5, 2013. A European rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Wednesday carrying a record 6.6 tonnes of cargo for the International Space Station (ISS) and its orbiting crew. A space freighter with food, water, oxygen, science experiments and special treats for the astronauts was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou as planned at 6:52:11 pm (21:52:11 GMT). The robot craft dubbed Albert Einstein is scheduled to separate from the launcher in an hour, somewhere over New Zealand, and enter orbit at an altitude of 260 kilometres (160 miles). The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) will then deploy four energy-generating solar panels and start its autonomous navigation, guided by starlight, to the space station. AFP PHOTO / Jody AMIET