July 13, 2023

Launchers

The Guiana Space Centre (GSC) currently has three launchers: two in operation (Vega and Vega-C), one under development (Ariane 6). Ariane 5's career ended with a great success on july 5, 2023, during its 117th and final flight.

Operational launchers

Décollage d'Ariane 5 au CSG

Ariane 5

Ariane 5, the spearhead of the European space program, has been launched from the GSC from 1996 to 2023. Scalable and capable of carrying up to 21 tons into low Earth orbit, Ariane 5 was suitable for all types of mission, from geostationary communications satellites to the distant orbits of probes exploring the universe

Décollage de Vega au CSG

Vega

Europe’s light launcher, Vega is particularly well suited for missions targeting polar or low Earth orbits, such as Earth observation satellites.

Vue d'artiste de Vega C

Vega-C

Vega's successor for launching lightweight satellites, Vega C shares some common components with Ariane 6.

 Launchers under development

Vue d'artiste d'Ariane 6 au CSG

Ariane 6

Ariane 6, the latest addition to the Ariane family, is flexible, and can be adapted to payload capacities and target orbits.