ESA, the Russian space Agency Roscomos and Arianespace, the commercial operator, have been working closely together to develop new launch facilities for the Soyuz launcher at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Russian-built medium-lift launcher will complement Ariane and Vega perfectly, providing Europe’s Spaceport with a full-range of launch services. The programme, strongly supported by the French space agency, CNES,
opens a new chapter for European launchers and is consolidating European access to space for medium-sized satellites.
The first Soyuz launch will carry the first two satellites of Europe’s Galileo navigation system into orbit in October 2011. The launch will be doubly historic: the first Soyuz from a spaceport outside of Kazakhstan and Russia and the start of building Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation. The second pair of satellites will join them in orbit in 2012, validating the design
of the Galileo system in advance of the other 26 satellites.