Index

Space Launchers

Suborbital Vehicles

Rocket Ranges

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Not long after the Evian agreements signature, which envisaged the CIEES closing in July 1967, the French MoD decided to create a missile test range in the Landes (the Landes Test Center), close to Biscarosse. The geographical position of this site was not favorable to orbital launches, since it allowed only west launches, in the opposite direction of the Earth rotation. After two years of reflections - in which nothing less than fourteen sites were studied - the French government decided, in April 1964, to establish its future satellites launch base in Guiana. The Kourou station, near the equator, optimized the launchers payload and allowed a broad range of orbit inclinations, between -100,5 and +361,5 degrees.

At the request of CNES, the French government accepted, in January 1965, that this station can be used by international organizations or foreign nations. In July 1966, the ELDO council chooses the CSG (Guiana Space Center) for launching the future Europa II there.

The sounding rockets launch unit (three pads for solid-rockets and one for liquid-rockets) was completed in 1968, the Diamant unit in 1969 and the Europa II unit in 1971. The failure of the Europa F11 launch, in November 1971, leads to the program cancellation and to the installations closing in 1973. The Diamant program was stopped in turn in the late 1975. During this first period (1968 to 1975), 184 sounding rockets (including meteorological rockets) and 9 space launchers had been launched from the CSG. The space center was then put in cocoon while waiting for the starting up of the new European launcher Ariane. The activity was limited, until 1978, to Super Arcas meteorological rockets launches for the Examenet program.

The Ariane launch complex (ELA-1) used the infrastructure developed for the Europa II launchers, with some adaptations of which a lengthening of the assembling tower. After three qualification launches (two Eridan and a Dauphin) in 1978-79, the space center was declared operational and could carry out the first Ariane launch in December 1979. The ELA-1 was used 25 times for Ariane 1 to 3 launches until 1989, then it was dismantled in 1991.
A second unit (ELA-2) was built following the decision, taken in 1981, to develop a Ariane 4 version of the European launcher. The ELA-2 allows in particular to prepare a launcher (Ariane 2 to 4) while another fills the launching pad. This unit was used for the first time in March 1986 and should remain in service until the Ariane 4 withdrawal, after year 2000.
The third launch complex (ELA-3), whose construction started in 1988, is specific to the Ariane 5 version. It is of an original design because the launching zone does not comprise a service tower, this function being ensured by the mobile launching table. This unit was brought into service in June 1996.

Different launch complex projects intended for a space launcher complementary to Ariane 5 - which could be of Russian (Semiorka), Ukrainian (Tsyclon) or Italian (Vega) origin - are currently studied.

External resources
Arianespace, Europe's Spaceport
The New Ground Infrastructure for Ariane-5 in Kourou
Kourou Launch Base