News Archive / Tagged: Guiana Space Centre

• Arianespace launches Vega rocket with PRISMA

  Derek RichardsonMarch 22nd, 2019

  An Arianespace Vega rocket launched an Italian Space Agency imaging satellite into Earth orbit to demonstrate a new electro-optical instrument.

• Arianespace’s 2018 launch manifest closes with CSO-1 flight

  Jason RhianDecember 19th, 2018

  Arianespace's final flight of the year, that of the CSO-1 concluded the French-based company's 2018 launch manifest as well as provide greater security. It lifted off a little later than planned, but helped cap a successful year for the Paris-based firm.

• Update: Arianespace investigates cause of Ariane 5 launch abort

  Jim SharkeySeptember 14th, 2017

  Arianespace recently released a preliminary analysis of the post-ignition launch abort of an Ariane 5 rocket carrying two communications satellites. The mission, designated flight VA239, was scheduled for liftoff at 5:51 p.m. EDT (21:51 GMT) Sept. 5, 2017, from the Guiana Space Centre in South America.

• Ariane 5 aborts moments after engine ignition

  Derek RichardsonSeptember 5th, 2017

  It was an otherwise smooth countdown. An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket was poised to launch two communications satellites into orbit, but moments after the ignition of the vehicle's main engine, the onboard computer triggered an abort. Liftoff was planned for 5:51 p.m. EDT (21:51 GMT) Sept. 5, 2017.

• Ariane 5 to launch 2 satellites to geostationary transfer orbit

  Bart LeahySeptember 4th, 2017

  For the fifth time in 2017, Arianespace will send an Ariane 5 rocket into space. The flight will orbit commercial communication satellites for two international customers: Intelsat and Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT), a leading broadcasting satellite operator in Japan.

• Arianespace delivers all-electric SES-15 to GTO on Flight VS17

  Curt GodwinMay 18th, 2017

  French multinational launch provider Arianespace continues to successfully clear its mission backlog induced by the "social movement" in French Guiana earlier in 2017. The company's Europeanized Soyuz ST-A medium-class rocket took to the skies with the SES-15 communications satellite at 7:54 a.m. EDT (11:54 GMT) May 18, 2017, from the Guiana Space Center in South America.

• Good to go for GTO: Soyuz to launch SES-15 satellite from French Guiana

  Curt GodwinMay 16th, 2017

  Arianespace's Europeanized variant of the workhorse Russian Soyuz rocket stands ready to launch the SES-15 telecommunications satellite. The medium-class launch vehicle, known for decades of reliable launches to low-Earth orbit, is being tapped for its second mission to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) from the Guiana Space Center.

• Vive la resolution!: French Guiana protests end, spaceport operations resume

  Curt GodwinApril 24th, 2017

  More than a month into a "social movement" that halted Arianespace launches, an agreement between French politicians and Guianan MPs has cleared the way for the France-based multinational launch provider to resume flights from the South American spaceport.

• Guiana Space Centre Director meets with protesters as demonstrations continue

  Jason RhianApril 5th, 2017

  KOUROU, French Guiana — Protests continued at the Guiana Space Centre with the unveiling of a sculpture of a fist, which was used as a symbol of protesters' struggle. SpaceFlight Insider spoke with workers attending this rally who said they would march toward the Centre to meet Didier Faivre, the Centre's director.

• Strikes in French Guiana halt launches at Guiana Space Centre

  Bart LeahyMarch 29th, 2017

  KOUROU, French Guiana — Mass protests, driven by unions and public outcry over crime rates and unemployment issues, have shut down operations at France’s Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. While space exploration is not a central issue in the protests, union members have gone on strike at the spaceport to call attention to the problems facing the French department.

• ‘Social movement’ continues to delay Ariane 5 launch

  Derek RichardsonMarch 23rd, 2017

  Arianespace has delayed the flight of its Ariane 5 rocket for a third day in a row due to a “social movement” at the Guiana Space Centre. The company has not set a new launch date. The mission, dubbed VA236, is set to send two communications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit.

• Vega flight VV09 sends Sentinel-2B satellite to space

  Curt GodwinMarch 7th, 2017

  Cloudy skies posed no issue as Arianespace's Vega launch vehicle successfully delivered its Sentinel-2B payload into orbit on Flight VV09.

• Sentinel-2B satellite set for launch atop European Vega rocket

  Curt GodwinMarch 5th, 2017

  Arianespace, a France-based multinational commercial launch provider, is in the final stages of readying its Vega rocket to send the Sentinel-2B Earth-observation satellite into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

• Arianespace preps 2 satellites for launch atop workhorse Ariane 5

  Curt GodwinFebruary 13th, 2017

  With its Launch Readiness Review complete, Arianespace continues to make preparations to launch its first Ariane 5 rocket of 2017. The delivery into space of two communications satellites, SKY Brasil-1 and Telkom 3S, is scheduled for the beginning of an 86-minute launch window that opens at 4:39 p.m. EST (21:39 GMT) on Feb. 14, 2017.

• Arianespace successfully launches Hispasat 36W-1, pushes Soyuz to its limits

  Curt GodwinJanuary 28th, 2017

  Nailing the opening of an instantaneous launch window, a Russian-built Soyuz ST-B lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana for Arianespace on a mission to deliver the Hispasat 36W-1 telecommunications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).