Europe's Spaceport seen from space

Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana guarantees independent, reliable access to space for Europe. This launch base and the jungle that surrounds it covers 690 km2. ESA owns the special infrastructure built for the Ariane, Soyuz and Vega rockets, this includes launch vehicle and satellite preparation buildings, launch operation facilities and a plant for making solid propellant and integrating solid rocket motors.

At the centre of the picture is the launch complex for Ariane 6, built for ESA by the French space agency, CNES and its partners, it was inaugurated on 28 September 2021. Available in two versions, with either two or four boosters, Ariane 6 will replace Europe’s heavy-lift Ariane 5 to offer more performance and flexibility.

ESA's upcoming Vega-C will use the same launch zone (pictured left) as its Vega predecessor.