Q&A with Guglielmo Aglietti, RemoveDebris principal investigator (members only)

A launch readiness review Friday cleared an Ariane 5 rocket for liftoff Tuesday with two communications satellites for Arabsat and India, the first three missions from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana scheduled in less than 40 days.

Mounted on a mobile platform, a European Ariane 5 rocket followed dual rail tracks across the Guiana Space Center in South America on the way to its jungle launch complex Monday, a day before its scheduled blastoff with four satellites to expand Europe’s independent navigation network.

A solid-fueled Vega launcher fired through a low cloud deck and sped into orbit from the South American jungle early Thursday with a pioneering European spacecraft that marks a key step in a century-long quest to detect elusive gravitational waves predicted to permeate the cosmos.