Launch centres

Ariane 6 and Vega-C each have a launch centre that can be compared to an aircraft cockpit, but on the ground. It has equipment to remotely control operations on the launch vehicle and its launch zone. From here, an operations manager communicates with the Jupiter 2 room, which acts as a control tower. 

Le centre de lancement d'Ariane 6.

Launch Centre 3

Launch Centre 3, used for Ariane 6 launches, has a 2,700 m² bunker capable of withstanding the impact of launch vehicle components. The walls, with thickness of 80 cm, can hold up to 10 tonnes of debris. It houses the test bench for the Ariane 6 launch campaign. The second, unprotected enclosure houses mainly offices and meeting rooms for the hundred or so people involved in a launch campaign. This area is evacuated six hours before the launch and the teams carry out the final operations from the bunker.

Centre de lancement Pandora de l'extérieur.

Vega-C Launch Centre

The launch centre dedicated to Vega-C is located in the Technical Centre, at the entrance to Europe’s spaceport, in the Pandora building. This location, some 13 km away from the Vega launch pad, was chosen for safety reasons related to the Vega-C launch vehicle, which has a main stage much more powerful than that of the Vega. For the same safety reasons, the weather team is also evacuated from the weather station around an hour and a half before launch to the weather room at the Vega-C launch centre.