Flight Ariane 6 VA263 in a nutshell

The first laucnh of 2025 from the Europe spaceport is scheduled on March 3rd at 01:24 pm (Kourou time), 05:24pm (CET), 04:24 (UTC). It will be Ariane 6's first commercial flight following the success of its inaugural flight on July 9th, 2024. 

The VA263 mission will place the military satellite CSO-3 into Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 800 km. Spacecraft separation will occur 1 hour and 6 minutes after lift-off.

About the payload

The CSO-3 satellite is the third in a constellation of three military Earth-observation satellites for the DGA-led MUSIS programme (Multinational Space-based Imaging System).

The CSO satellite programme, equipped with latest generation optical sensors, guarantees continuity of France’s optical Earth intelligence resources, transmitting very high resolution (VHR) images for the French armed forces and their European partners.

DGA delegated oversight to CNES for construction and launch of the CSO satellites, and for the mission ground segment (SSM). CNES is also system co-architect and in charge of launch, in-orbit commissioning and station-keeping operations throughout the satellite’s lifetime. DGA and CNES are working closely together as overall architect to ensure system-level consistency across prime contractor activities. As part of an integrated team with DGA and CDE, CNES’s team has been involved in every phase of the project from early-stage studies to final satellite qualification. A consortium formed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence & Space is the prime contractor for the CSO satellites.

Flight sequence

Focus on CSO-1 & 2...

The CSO-1 & 2 have been successfully launched from the Europe Spaceport in 2018 and 2020, by Soyuz rockets. Relive the launch trough theses videos.