Arianespace – Spaceflight Now

Arianespace announces competition for free nanosatellite launch

April 14, 2021

Arianespace announced this week it is organizing a contest open to startups, labs, and universities for a free launch of a nanosatellite on a future rideshare mission, likely on an Ariane 6 or Vega rocket.

Soyuz launch adds 36 satellites to OneWeb’s global internet network

March 25, 2021

A Soyuz rocket took off from a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East and deployed 36 Florida-built OneWeb internet satellites into orbit Thursday. Another batch of OneWeb satellites will launch next month, continuing the build-out of a planned fleet of 648 spacecraft to provide global broadband services.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches with 36 satellites for OneWeb’s constellation

March 24, 2021

OneWeb’s next 36 internet satellites stacked on top of a Soyuz rocket lifted at 10:47 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0247 GMT Thursday) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

Starlink and OneWeb satellites ready for launch on opposite sides of the world

March 23, 2021

SpaceX and OneWeb — space industry rivals and owners of two of the largest fleets of commercial satellites — are set to add more spacecraft to their internet networks Wednesday with launches from Cape Canaveral and Russia.

James Webb, OneWeb highlight Arianespace’s 2021 launch schedule

January 11, 2021

The planned Halloween launch of the James Webb Space Telescope — one of eight Ariane 5 launches left before the rocket’s retirement — and a series of flights to build out OneWeb’s satellite internet network highlight Arianespace’s schedule this year.

Photos: Soyuz launches French military satellite

January 5, 2021

Check out imagery from Arianespace and the French space agency showing the launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket Dec. 29 from the Guiana Space Center in South America.

U.S. companies, led by SpaceX, launched more than any other country in 2020

January 5, 2021

Leading all other nations, U.S. launch providers flew 44 missions in 2020 that aimed to place payloads in Earth orbit or deep space, with 40 successes. China followed with 35 successful orbital missions in 39 launch attempts.

French military surveillance satellite launched by Soyuz rocket

December 29, 2020

An optical reconnaissance satellite for the French military took off atop a Soyuz launcher Tuesday, riding the Russian-made rocket from a tropical spaceport in South America into a 300-mile-high polar orbit to begin a 10-year mission surveying the globe.

Live coverage: Soyuz lifts off from French Guiana

December 28, 2020

A French military spy satellite lifted off Tuesday atop a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. Launch of Arianespace’s final mission of 2020 occurred at 11:42 a.m. EST (1642 GMT). Officials called off a launch attempt Monday because of unfavorable high-altitude winds over the spaceport in South America.

French military spysat set for launch Monday

December 26, 2020

A sharp-eyed French military surveillance spacecraft is set for launch aboard a Soyuz rocket Monday from French Guiana into a 300-mile-high orbit, where it will collect the highest-resolution imagery ever produced by a European reconnaissance satellite.