Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport
(Kourou, French Guiana)

Kourou, Programs Division
Arianespace’s facility in French Guiana, part of the company’s Programs Division, is in charge of the launch service, the culmination of Arianespace’s three-pronged mission: market, produce and launch.

The Kourou facility is responsible for operation of the Ariane launch complex, as well as assembly and checking of launchers, integration of satellites on the launchers and conducting countdowns all the way through liftoff. At this point, the launchers become independent and inject their payload(s) into the assigned orbit(s) according to the flight programs in the onboard computers.