Guiana Space Centre

Originally built in the 1960s under the name of Base Équatoriale du CECLES (English: ELDO Equatorial Base), the pad located at 5.236°N 52.775°W / 5.236; -52.775 was designed for the Europa-II launch vehicle. One Europa-II was launched from the site in 1971, which ended in failure due to a guidance problem, before the program was cancelled.[14]

The pad at Giunana was demolished and subsequently rebuilt as the first launch complex for Ariane as ELA (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane). Redesignated later as ELA-1, it was used for Ariane 1 and Ariane 2 and 3 launches until being retired in 1989.[15]

In November 2001, it was refurbished again for the Vega rocket and renamed ELV (Ensemble de Lancement Vega). The first launch was on 13 February 2012.[16]

The ELA-2 pad (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane-2), located at 5.232°N 52.776°W / 5.232; -52.776, built in 1986, had been used for Ariane 4 launches from 1988 until 2003. Before 1988, although purpose-built for Ariane 4, the pad hosted an Ariane-2 and two Ariane-3 launches. The complex consisted of two areas: the launcher preparation zone and the launch pad, separated by one kilometre, allowing a launcher to be assembled in the preparation zone while another launch from the pad. A mobile service tower at the launch pad provided a protected environment for payload installation and final preparation of the rocket.[17] In September 2011, the pad's service tower was demolished using explosives.[18]

ELA-3 (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane-3) has been active, launching Ariane 5 rockets since 1996. This facility is located at 5.239°N 52.768°W / 5.239; -52.768 and covers an area of 21 km² (8.1 sq mi).[19]

ELA4 is located along the Route de l'Espace in the Roche Christine site at 5.26258°N 52.79074°W / 5.26258; -52.79074, between ELA-3 and ELS launch facilities. CNES was responsible for the construction of the Ariane 6 ground segments including the new launch pad. Earthworks on the 150 hectare launch site began at the end of June 2015 and was completed at the start of 2016. Four platforms were levelled to accommodate the launch pad, the liquid oxygen and hydrogen tanks and the assembly building. Civil engineering works on the flame trench and other buildings began in the summer of 2016 and ended in 2019.[20][21] The new launch facility was inaugurated on 28 September 2021 with first flight of the Ariane 6 scheduled in 2024.[22]

ESA has built ELS (Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz) at 5.305°N 52.834°W / 5.305; -52.834 for launching Russian-built Soyuz-2 rockets. The first Soyuz launch from ELS was postponed several times, but launched on 21 October 2011.[23]

ELS is located on the territory of Sinnamary commune, 27 km (17 mi) from Kourou harbor.[24] It is 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of the site used for the Ariane 5 launches. Under the terms of the Russo-European joint venture, ESA will augment its own launch vehicle fleet with Soyuz rockets – using them to launch ESA or commercial payloads – and the Russians will get access to the Kourou spaceport for launching their own payloads with Soyuz rockets. Russia will use the Guiana Space Centre in addition to Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Guiana location has the significant benefit of greatly increased payload capability, owing to the near equatorial position. A Soyuz rocket with a 1.7 tones to geostationary transfer orbit performance from Baikonur will increase its payload potential to 2.8 tones from the Guiana launch site.[25]

The ELS project is being co-funded by Arianespace, ESA, and the European Union, with CNES being the prime contractor. The project has a projected cost of approximately €320 million, where €120 million are allocated for modernizing the Soyuz vehicle.[26] The official opening of the launch site construction occurred on 27 February 2007.

On 13 September 2010, Spaceflight Now reported that after several delays in the construction of a mobile gantry the launch pad had been finished, and the first flight of the Soyuz was expected to occur in early 2011.[27] By October 2010, 18 launch contracts were signed. Arianespace has ordered 24 launchers from Russian industry.[28]

On 21 October 2011, two Galileo IOV-1 and IOV-2 satellites were launched using a Soyuz-ST rocket, in the "first Russian Soyuz vehicle ever launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.".[29]

On 26 February 2022, Roscosmos announced that it was suspending operations at ELS as a reaction to international sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War.[30] According to Stephane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, "there will no longer be Soyuz launches" from the Guiana Space Center.[31]

Astrium assembles each Ariane 5 launcher in the Launcher Integration Building. The vehicle is then delivered to the Final Assembly Building for payload integration by Arianespace.[32] The Final Assembly Building is located 2.8 km (1.7 mi) from the ELA-3 launch zone. The mobile launch table completes the trip with an Ariane 5 in about one hour. It is then secured in place over the launch pad's flame ducts.[33]

Fire safety is ensured by a detachment of the Paris Fire Brigade, a branch of the French Army. Security around the base is ensured by French Gendarmerie forces, assisted by the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion. Before and during launch windows, CSG facility security is significantly enhanced by anti-personnel and anti-aircraft measures, the exact configurations of which are classified by the French military. All entrants to the launch complex are also subject to checks for proof of permission to enter the facility.

The Guiana Space Centre (as per CNES) also contains the Îles du Salut, a former penal colony including the infamous Devil's Island. Now a tourist site, the islands are under the launching trajectory for geosynchronous orbit and have to be evacuated during launches.

• 10 March 1970 — The first Diamant-B launched the DIAL/MIKA and DIAL/WIKA satellites. DIAL/MIKA failed during launch, but it entered orbit with a total mass of 111 kg.[34] DIAL/WIKA provided data for about two months after launch.[35]

• 21 May 2011 — 04:38 (GMT+08:00) An Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle launched carrying ST-2 Satellite twice as powerful Singtel's first satellite ST-1, which was launched back in 1998. It will provide 20% more transponder capacity and a wider coverage footprint than ST-1, with C-band and Ku-band coverage of the Middle East, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
• 21 October 2011 — A Soyuz-2 carrying two Galileo satellites was launched. This was the first launch of a Soyuz rocket at the Centre Spatial Guyanais.[36]
• 17 December 2011 — A Soyuz carrying the French space agency's Pleiades 1 Earth imaging satellite, four ELISA electronic intelligence satellites, and the SSOT remote sensing satellite for the Chilean military. This was the second launch of a Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre.[37]
• 13 February 2012 — The Vega, which was designed in Italy, lifted off at 10:00 UTC on its maiden voyage. The launcher released nine satellites into orbit: two Italian satellites and seven pico-satellites.[38]
• 5 July 2012 — The uncrewed Ariane 5 rocket took off to send an American communication satellite and European weather-monitoring spacecraft into orbit. Liftoff occurred at 21:36 UTC.[39]
• 30 August 2013 — Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the advanced multi-band communication satellite GSAT-7.[40] It was 17th Indian satellite launched from ESA with Ariane 5.[41]
• 16 October 2014 — An Ariane 5 launch vehicle carrying the communication satellite ARSAT-1 to orbit. It is the first geostationary satellite built by a Latin American country, Argentina, and the second one of the Americas, after the U.S.
• 30 September 2015 — An Ariane 5 launch vehicle carrying the communication satellite ARSAT-2 to orbit, being the second Argentine geostationary satellite built in two years.
• 1 October 2015 — Sky Muster (NBN-Co 1A) is a communication satellite launched on an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle. Sky Muster is the first satellite of an operation to improve Australia's internet with the NBN program.
• 6 October 2016 — Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B) is a communication satellite launched on an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle. Sky Muster II is the second satellite of an operation to improve Australia's internet with the NBN program.
• 28 January 2017 — A Soyuz-2 STB carrying the geostationary communication satellite Hispasat 36W-1 to orbit. It is the first of the ESA's "Small-GEO" class of satellites.
• 14 February 2017 — An Ariane 5 launch vehicle carrying the commercial communication satellites Sky Brasil 1 (Intelsat 32e) and Telekom 3S launched the satellites to a geostationary orbit.
• 25 January 2018 — Partial failure of Ariane 5 launch vehicle on Ariane flight VA241.
• 19 October 2018 — An Ariane 5 launched the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury.[42]
• 5 February 2019 — An Ariane 5 launched the Saudi Geostationary Satellite SGS-1 (also known as SaudiGeosat-1/HellasSat-4).
• 11 July 2019 — Vega failed to launch Falcon Eye 1 satellite for United Arab Emirates Armed Forces.
• 15 August 2020 — An Ariane 5 launched MEV-2, BSAT-4b, and Galaxy-30.[43]
• 17 November 2020 — Vega failed to launch TARANIS and SEOSat-Ingenio.[44]
• 25 December 2021 — An Ariane 5 launched the James Webb Space Telescope.[45]
• 13 December 2022 — An Ariane 5 launched the first third generation Meteosat: Meteosat MTG-I1.[46]
• 21 Decembre 2022 — Vega-C failed to launch two Pléiades Neo satellites from Airbus Defence and Space.[47]
• 14 April 2023 — An Ariane 5 launched the JUICE space probe on an 8-year journey to Jupiter, including four gravity assist maneuvers at the Moon, Earth, and Venus, where it will study three of Jupiter's Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.[48]
• 5 July 2023 — Ariane 5 launched two military communication satellites from France and Germany (Syracuse 4B and Heinrich Hertz) as its final mission.[49]