Ariane 1 rocket and Arianespace
Cohete Ariane 1 y Arianespace
- Date
- 24 de diciembre de 1979 · confidence high
- Place
- Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana
- Credited to
- European Space Agency and CNES
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A three-stage European launcher that succeeded on its maiden flight from the equatorial base at Kourou. It gave Europe independent access to space and led to Arianespace (1980), the first commercial launch company.
It was born after the failure of the Europa launcher. Kourou, at 5° N, exploits Earth's rotation to launch geostationary satellites with less propellant.
What it led to
- Arianespace and the commercial launch market
- the Ariane 4, 5 and 6 family
- European cooperation on launchers after the failures of Europa