17 November 2020
Vega fails during launch of European Earth observation satellites
... to flight, the Vega launch vehicle lifted off as scheduled at 02:52 CET / 22:52 local time from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The first three stages functioned nominally until the ignition of the AVUM upper stage, eight minutes...
February 2018
Our space future lies in innovation
...cause of astronautics in his roles as President of the French national space agency (CNES), Chair of the Council ...one-way colonisation trip. French President Emmanuel Macron was welcomed to the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana at the end of...
October 2023
Space architecture on Earth
... by spy planes or, nowadays, satellites. Sites needed an adjacent airport or seaport (such as Port Canaveral in Florida or Cayenne in French Guiana) and wide roads or railways to bring in the outsize cargoes. Three sites built long, adjacent shuttle...
September 2016
Co-operating in space transcends national identity
.... Do we need to wait until they put foot on the Moon or on Mars? An Ariane rocket on its launch pad in French Guiana - the programme can be viewed as a symbol of European cooperation. I am ready to believe because it is only in confrontation with the...
January 2019
Materials make the space mission
... human engineering products are required to function Arrival at the launch site means exposure to humidity - especially in French Guiana and Florida - and presence of chemical substances such as cleaning agents and solvents, propellant and oxidisers...
01 December 2015
LISA Pathfinder set for liftoff
.... LISA Pathfinder aboard the Vega launcher – fully assembled in its mobile gantry at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. “LISA Pathfinder is a complex mission,” says flight director Andreas Rudolph. “Even after we’re safely in space, we will...
