24 December
1979: On 24 December 1979, the first Ariane 1 was launched.
The first pan-European space launch vehicle had been called 'Europa'. Its first stage was a British 'Blue Streak' ballistic missile. The second stage was French and the third German. This project was plagued with difficulties due to unreliability – the project was scrapped without a single successful launch.
Europa was succeeded by 'Ariane 1' which was based on a replacement design for Europa.
