Guiana Space Center

Last Ariane 5 flight of the year cleared for launch

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Arianespace officials have approved the rollout and launch of the final Ariane 5 flight of the year, set to blast off Wednesday from French Guiana to haul Brazilian and Japanese communications stations toward their orbital perches more than 22,000 miles above the equator.

Turkey’s military gets a new eye in the sky with successful Vega launch

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European-built, Turkish-owned spy satellite rocketed into orbit Monday aboard a Vega booster launched from French Guiana, part of a $300 million project to feed improved surveillance imagery to the Turkish military and advance the country’s aerospace manufacturing base.

Live coverage: Turkish reconnaissance launches on Vega rocket

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Vega rocket lifted off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana at 1351 GMT (8:51 a.m. EST) Monday with Gokturk 1, a sharp-eyed reconnaissance satellite built in France and owned by the Turkish armed forces.

Launch timeline for Vega’s liftoff with Gokturk 1

December 4, 2016 Stephen Clark

Turkey’s most advanced Earth observation satellite will ride a four-stage Vega rocket into polar orbit nearly 435 miles above Earth to begin collecting high-resolution images for Turkish military and security authorities.

Slow-motion replays and dramatic images from Thursday’s Ariane 5 flight

November 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

Don’t miss riveting slow-motion video of Thursday’s blastoff of four European navigation satellite satellites captured by high-speed cameras at the Ariane 5 rocket’s jungle launch pad, plus dramatic up-close snapshots showing the launcher’s climb into the sky on 2.9 million pounds of ground-shaking thrust.

Europe’s satellite navigation fleet gets big boost from Ariane 5 rocket

November 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Galileo navigation program turned to the workhorse Ariane 5 rocket for a heavy lift Thursday, delivering four new satellites to orbit on the launcher’s 75th successful flight in a row and pushing the growing fleet closer to global coverage.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 lifts off on its first Galileo launch

November 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket took off on a rare morning launch Thursday with four Galileo navigation satellites, the heavy-lifter’s first flight in support of the European positioning and timing fleet. Liftoff from French Guiana occurred at 1306 GMT (8:06 a.m. EST).