Latest Kourou Stories

Fuel, water, oxygen, air and most of the dry cargo have been loaded into ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle, Edoardo Amaldi, as the 9 March liftoff approaches. Since arrival at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, last August, the space ferry has been undergoing intensive preparations to fly to the International Space Station next month. The vessel's mission is set to start with liftoff at 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET) on 9 March on a powerful Ariane 5 ES launcher. It will dock...

Final checkout of Europe’s new Vega launcher was completed last Friday, marking another milestone towards its maiden flight from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The first Vega launch campaign began in November with the installation of the P80 first stage on the launch pad. The two solid-propellant second and third stages were added to the vehicle, followed by the AVUM – Attitude & Vernier Upper Module – liquid-propellant fourth stage. All four stages have...

The first elements of Europe’s new Vega small launcher left Italy last Thursday to begin their long journey to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marking the final step towards its inaugural flight in January. After several intense weeks of checking the hardware and equipment – and the shipping paperwork – Vega’s Zefiro-23 and Zefiro-9 motors and the AVUM fourth stage were carefully packed and left Avio’s facility in Colleferro, where they were built. During the night, the...

A spokesman for launch operators Arianespace said on Tuesday that the maiden launch of the veteran Soviet-Russian rocket Soyuz from Europe's space base in South America has been scheduled for October. Spokesman Mario de Lepine said, "Right now we are looking at mid-October" for the first launch.He said Soyuz will carry the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo navigation system, the competitor to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia...

The fuel and most of the cargo are loaded and ATV has been hoisted to the top of Ariane 5 as teams on four continents prepare for the 15 February launch of Johannes Kepler from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.With launch scheduled in just 18 days, experts from ESA, partner agencies and industry teams are in the busy final stage of making Johannes Kepler ready for space.Liftoff is set for 15 February at 22:07 GMT (23:07 CET) from Kourou. After eight days of orbital maneuvers that...

ATV-2 is almost ready for launch on 15 February from Europe's Spaceport. It will be the heaviest load ever lofted into space by the Ariane 5 rocket, making the 200th flight of the European launcher even more spectacular.ESA's latest Automated Transfer Vehicle space ferry, named after the German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, is now fully fuelled, its oxygen tanks are filled and most of the cargo from ESA and NASA is placed inside.Only last-minute cargo of up to 400 kg will be...

Arianespace announced Tuesday that it has planned 10 launches for this year, including six Ariane 5 rockets and the first Russian Soyuz rockets from the European launch center in French Guiana starting in August. The company only managed six of its seven planned launches of the Ariane 5 rockets in 2010 due to technical problems. Arianespace also had a revenue shortfall of 133 million US dollars last year to about 1.2 billion dollars (900 million euros), Jean-Yves Le Gall told AFP. Last year's...

The second of ESA's ATV automated cargo craft has been cleared for shipping to the launch site in Kourou. Its launch on an Ariane 5 to the International Space Station is scheduled for late this year.ATV-2, named after German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, has undergone extensive system testing at EADS Astrium's site in Bremen, Germany, over the last few months and has now been given the go-ahead for shipping.It will be dispatched to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana...

The site of a ground station for Galileo, Europe's global navigation satellite system, inside the Guiana Space Centre (CSG), near Kourou in French Guiana, was inaugurated on November 19.The site, which was made available by France's Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), will play an essential role in the setting up of the Galileo system, since it will accommodate the most comprehensive of the Galileo ground segment stations. The Kourou station will consist of a telemetry, tracking and...

Construction has been completed on the first Russian Soyuz rockets scheduled to launch from South America, Russian Soyuz maker reported Thursday."The first two rockets are ready. They have got through all the tests and have been placed in the containers in which they will be delivered," a report by ITAR-TASS quoted Sergei Tyulevin, the deputy head of TsSKB-Progress, as saying. The updated Soyuz-ST rockets will be delivered in September, and will launch December 28 from French...