Q&A with Josef Aschbacher, director of ESA’s Earth observation programs (members only)

A European Vega rocket is scheduled to launch Tuesday from a tropical spaceport in South America carrying two Israeli-built satellites for the Italian military and a French-Israeli environmental observatory.

Ground crews in French Guiana on Monday transferred an Ariane 5 rocket to its launch pad, moving the vehicle into position for liftoff Wednesday with four European Galileo navigation satellites on the Ariane 5’s last flight with an older-generation, out-of-production upper stage.

Four satellites fastened to the top of an Ariane 5 rocket will grow Europe’s space-based Galileo navigation network Thursday morning with a launch from the South American jungle.