Guiana Space Centre

The Guiana Space Centre (French: Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an overseas region of France in South America. It has been in operation since 1968 and is an ideal place for launching rockets because it is very close to the equator and has open sea to the east and north.

At the Guiana Space Centre, many European private companies and government agencies work together to launch rockets into space. The land of the centre is managed by CNES, the French national space agency. The European Space Agency owns the launch pads and other buildings used for launching. A private company called Arianespace is in charge of planning the launches, working with customers, and getting the rockets ready. The rockets themselves are made by other companies, including ArianeGroup for the Ariane 6 rocket and Avio for the Vega rocket.

History

In 1964, Guiana was chosen to be France's spaceport, replacing an earlier site in Algeria after Algeria became independent. In 1975, France invited the European Space Agency (ESA) to share the spaceport, and today ESA pays for two-thirds of its costs. Companies outside of Europe also buy launches from this spaceport.

In April 2017, some workers and leaders from local communities stopped work at the spaceport during protests. The spaceport started working again later that month after the French government agreed to help with money.

Facilities

The Guiana Space Centre has many important buildings and launch pads. Some of these include the Vega launch pad, the Ariane 5 final assembly building, and the Ariane 6 pad. There is also a special tower and flame trench for Soyuz-2 rockets, an antenna for tracking space signals, and a control centre for missions.

The space centre is located very close to the equator, which helps rockets use less fuel when they fly into space. Being near the open sea also keeps people safe if a rocket fails during launch. Rockets launching from here can reach certain paths in the sky more easily than from other places.

The centre has had many different launch pads over the years, each designed for different kinds of rockets. Some older pads have been updated for new rockets, and new pads have been built for the latest space vehicles.

Launches

The Guiana Space Centre has been the launch site for many important rockets and satellites. Some notable launches include:

Ariane 4 launched from the Guiana Space Centre on 10 August 1992.
An Ariane 5 lifted off from Kourou on 29 August 2013.
Sentinel-2A launched on Vega on 23 June 2015.
Soyuz rolled out to ELS pad on 9 October 2012.
Ariane 5 flight VA256 launched with the James Webb Space Telescope on 25 December 2021.

Launch safety

Safety during launches is ensured by the Paris Fire Brigade, part of the French Army. Security is handled by French Gendarmerie forces, with help from the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion. Before launches, extra security measures are put in place, though the exact details are kept secret by the French military. Everyone entering the launch area must show permission to be there.

The Guiana Space Centre includes the Îles du Salut, a group of islands that used to be a penal colony. These islands must be cleared during launches because they lie under the path of rockets heading to geosynchronous orbit.

Early launches

On 10 March 1970, the first Diamant-B rocket launched the DIAL/MIKA and DIAL/WIKA satellites. DIAL/MIKA failed but entered space, while DIAL/WIKA sent data for about two months.

Recent launches

On 21 May 2011, an Ariane 5 launched the ST-2 satellite for Singtel, offering more coverage over the Middle East, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.
On 21 October 2011, a Soyuz rocket launched two Galileo satellites for the first time at the Guiana Space Centre.
On 17 December 2011, a Soyuz carried the French Pleiades 1 satellite, four ELISA satellites, and the SSOT satellite for the Chilean military. This was the second Soyuz launch from the centre.
On 13 February 2012, the Vega rocket launched for the first time, sending nine satellites into space.
On 5 July 2012, an uncrewed Ariane 5 sent an American communication satellite and a European weather satellite into orbit.
On 30 August 2013, ISRO launched the GSAT-7 satellite using an Ariane 5, marking the 17th Indian satellite launched from ESA.
On 16 October 2014, an Ariane 5 launched ARSAT-1, the first geostationary satellite built by Argentina.
On 30 September 2015, an Ariane 5 launched ARSAT-2, Argentina’s second geostationary satellite.
On 1 October 2015, Sky Muster (NBN-Co 1A) launched on an Ariane 5 ECA to improve Australia’s internet as part of the NBN program.
On 6 October 2016, Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B) launched on an Ariane 5 ECA, continuing Australia’s internet improvement.
On 28 January 2017, a Soyuz-2 STB launched the Hispasat 36W-1 satellite, the first of the ESA’s "Small-GEO" class.
On 14 February 2017, an Ariane 5 launched the Sky Brasil 1 and Telekom 3S satellites to geostationary orbit.
On 19 October 2018, an Ariane 5 launched the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
On 5 February 2019, an Ariane 5 launched the Saudi Geostationary Satellite SGS-1 (also known as SaudiGeosat-1/HellasSat-4).
On 15 August 2020, an Ariane 5 launched MEV-2, BSAT-4b, and Galaxy-30.
On 25 December 2021, an Ariane 5 launched the James Webb Space Telescope.
On 13 December 2022, an Ariane 5 launched the first third-generation Meteosat: Meteosat MTG-I1.
On 21 December 2022, Vega-C failed to launch two Pléiades Neo satellites from Airbus Defence and Space.
On 14 April 2023, an Ariane 5 launched the JUICE space probe on a journey to Jupiter to study its Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.
On 5 July 2023, Ariane 5 launched two military communication satellites from France and Germany (Syracuse 4B and Heinrich Hertz) in its final mission.
On 9 July 2024, Ariane 6 launched on its first flight.

Launch pad chart

Complex	Status	Tenant	Uses	Notable Launches
Ensemble de Lancement Fusées-Sondes	Inactive	Various companies	Future: Sounding rockets Retired: Sounding rockets
Ensemble de Lancement Multilanceurs	Inactive	Various companies	Future: Miura 5, RFA One Spectrum Zephyr SL1 CALLISTO Themis Retired: Diamant ELM is planned to be a reconfigurable multipurpose launch site, similarly to SLC-46 at Cape Canaveral
Ensemble de Lancement Vega	Active	Arianespace	Current: Vega C Retired: Europa II, Ariane 1, Ariane 2, Ariane 3, Vega	CAT-1, Giotto, IXV, LISA Pathfinder
Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 2	Inactive		Retired: Ariane 2, Ariane 3, Ariane 4	Hipparcos, ERS-1, TOPEX/Poseidon, Infrared Space Observatory
Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 3	Inactive	Arianespace	Future: Vega-E Retired: Ariane 5	XMM-Newton, EnviSat, Rosetta, ATV-1 "Jules Verne", Herschel, Planck, ATV-5 "Georges Lemaître", BepiColombo, James Webb Space Telescope, Jupiter Icey Moons Explorer
Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 4	Active	Arianespace	Current: Ariane 6
Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz	Undergoing renovation	MaiaSpace	Future: Maia Retired: Soyuz ST-A, Soyuz ST-B	Gaia, Sentinel-1A, CHEOPS

Launch statistics

As of 18 January 2026

Kourou is one of the spaceports with the most successful launches. Since 1970, many rockets have taken off from here as part of French and European space programs.

Active rockets include:

Retired rockets include:

These charts show all launches from Kourou, but they do not include sounding rockets. You can find more details in the lists of Ariane launches, Soyuz ST, Vega and [Encyclopedia Aeronautica]

Local impact

The space sector played a big role in the economy of French Guiana, an area in South America that belongs to France. In 2014, it made up about 15% of the area's money made from jobs. Many people worked because of the space centre, with around 4,620 jobs directly linked to it. Some estimates say even more people were affected indirectly.

The Guiana Space Centre gets a lot of money from the European Space Agency, which helps pay for new buildings and projects. However, some local groups feel that mainland France only cares about the space centre and not about improving life for everyone in French Guiana. They point out that many people there struggle with poverty and high costs, even while big investments go into space projects instead of local services.

In 2017, people in French Guiana protested because they wanted better security and infrastructure. These protests sometimes stopped space launches, like one in March that was blocked until May. After talking with the French government, more money was promised to help with economic and social programs in the area.