Tag: Kourou
-
PLD Space Invests €35 Million in Launch Complex at Guiana Space Centre
PLD Space has announced plans to invest €35 million ($40.8 million) in the development of its launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana. The investment will be carried out between 2025 and 2026 and is intended to support the company’s upcoming Miura 5 launch vehicle program. First Private Operator at…
-
ESA-China SMILE Mission Launches to Map Earth’s Magnetosphere
How Will SMILE Transform Space Weather Monitoring? The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission launched successfully from Kourou, French Guiana today, marking the culmination of over a decade of ESA-China collaboration. The 2,300-kilogram spacecraft will operate from a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) with a 19.6-hour period, reaching distances of 121,000 kilometers to capture…
-
Vega C launches SMILE to study Earth’s magnetosphere
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) latest science mission, Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), launched on a four-stage Vega C rocket from French Guiana on Tuesday morning. SMILE, a collaboration between ESA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and multiple academic and commercial organizations, will capture the first global soft X-ray images of Earth’s…
-
PLD Space Raises €180 Million Series C Led by Mitsubishi Electric
Spanish launch company PLD Space has raised €180 million ($209.5 million) in a Series C funding round, bringing its total funding to more than €350 million, the company said. The round was led by Mitsubishi Electric and included investment from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, COFIDES and Nazca Capital. PLD Space said…
-
Inaugural Ariane 64 launches Amazon Leo satellites from Kourou
Arianespace launched the most powerful configuration of its Ariane 6 vehicle for the first time. The rocket lifted off at the start of a 28-minute window opening on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 16:45 UTC, from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The four-booster Ariane 64 variant carried 32 satellites to orbit for Amazon’s…
-
PLD Space accelerates Miura 5 toward 2026 debut with milestones update
PLD Space, the pioneering Spanish private space company, has updated its progress with its Miura 5 orbital launch vehicle. The company remains on track for its inaugural demonstration flight in 2026 from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana. The two-stage, kerosene-fueled rocket is designed for partial reusability and capable of delivering up…
-
Ariane 6 launches the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite
Arianespace, Europe’s long-standing primary launch provider, flew the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite aboard the third Ariane 6 launch of 2025. The flight, only the fourth ever flown by the Ariane 6, successfully launched on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 21:02 UTC from ELA-4 at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana. All Ariane 6 flights…
-
ESA’s Biomass mission launches aboard Vega-C
The European Space Agency’s seventh Earth Explorer mission, Biomass, launched on Tuesday aboard an Arianespace Vega-C rocket. Biomass, which will study Earth’s forests and their impact on the planet’s climate, lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 09:15 UTC (6:15 AM local time). The Earth Explorer missions are part of the Living Planet Programme (LPP),…
-
MaiaSpace set to forge Europe’s path to reusability
French company MaiaSpace has a good shot at becoming the first European launch provider to bring reusable orbital vehicles to the market. The company is firmly on the path to achieving this by leveraging existing technologies and optimizing its design decisions around the vehicle while remaining competitive. NSF spoke with MaiaSpace’s CEO, Yohann Leroy, about…
-
MaiaSpace set to forge Europe’s path to reusability
French company MaiaSpace has a good shot at becoming the first European launch provider to bring reusable orbital vehicles to the market. The company is firmly on the path to achieving this by leveraging existing technologies and optimizing its design decisions around the vehicle while remaining competitive. NSF spoke with MaiaSpace’s CEO, Yohann Leroy, about…