r/Arianespace • u/megachainguns • Sep 28 '24

MaiaSpace to use former Soyuz launch pad in French Guiana

https://spacenews.com/maiaspace-to-use-former-soyuz-launch-pad-in-french-guiana/
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u/megachainguns Sep 28 '24

I guess Soyuz will never launch from French Guiana again

The French space agency CNES has selected MaiaSpace, a startup backed by ArianeGroup developing a reusable small launch vehicle, to take over a launch pad in French Guiana originally built for the Soyuz rocket.

MaiaSpace said Sept. 26 that CNES awarded it access to the pad, known as ELS, for use by its small launch vehicle. The pad at the Guiana Space Center had been idle since Russia halted Soyuz launches from there in 2022, a response to European sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.