Thirty years of Ariane - gallery

Historic Ariane images from the 1970s, 80s and 90s from ESA archives. Some of ESA's most important missions of the past 30 years have been launched by Ariane, including Giotto, ISO, XMM-Newton, Artemis, Envisat, Rosetta and ATV Jules Verne.

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Hi-res Inside an Ariane 4 payload fairing, 1978	Hi-res Ariane 'propellant mock-up', erected on the launch site, 1979	Hi-res Ariane 'propellant mock-up' erected on the launch site, 1979
Hi-res Engineers working on Ariane 'propellant mock-up', 1979	Hi-res ESA 's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, 1979	Hi-res Spectacular view of Ariane from top of launch platform, 1979
Hi-res First launch of Europe's Ariane, 1979	Hi-res First launch of Europe's Ariane in 1979	Hi-res Europe's first Ariane, in flight, shortly after launch, 1979

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