BUENOS AIRES –

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez celebrated the launch of her country's second telecommunications satellite Wednesday, and wants to see the manufacture eight more over the next 20 years, she said.

Launched from French Guyana atop an Ariane 5 rocket, the satellite will provide telecommunications services across much of the Western Hemisphere. Argentina last year launched its first satellite, which provided country-wide coverage.

The geostationary satellite reduces Argentina's reliance on foreign ones. Its construction is a source of national pride and a relatively new industry for the country, which hopes to export the technology.

Fernandez's government, which has faced a drought of good news lately in view of double-digit inflation and a stagnant economy, has been celebrating the launch under the Twitter hashtag #satellitesovereignty.

Argentines will go to the polls on Oct. 25 to elect a new president. While Fernandez cannot run for a third consecutive term, she has endorsed the candidacy of Gov. Daniel Scioli of Buenos Aires province. Many Argentines expect she may run again down the road.

"The future has arrived, today we saw it take off," Fernandez said in a televised speech. "And in parliament we are going to institutionalize it."

Fernandez said her government was sending a new draft law to Congress to promote the satellite industry in Argentina, saying it would require investment worth about $1.2 billion.

She foresees building eight more satellites over the next 20 years, some of which will be sold abroad, adding that Buenos Aires had invested $1.05 billion in the satellite industry since 2003.

Fernandez said the satellite launch was proof that the country had also left its economic crash in 2001 and 2002 far behind.

The president gave much of the credit to her predecessor and late husband Nestor Kirchner, who created Argentina's satellite company Arsat back in 2006 and oversaw strong economic growth during his 2003 to 2007 stint.