17 minutes full video of an onboard camera on Europe’s heavy lift rocket Ariane 6, showing liftoff to orbit. 

This footage was taken from a camera on the Ariane 6 upper stage on the rocket’s inaugural flight launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana at 16:00 local time (20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST) on 9 July 2024. 

This inaugural flight, designated VA262, was a demonstration flight to show the capabilities and prowess of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space. Nevertheless, it had several passengers on board.  

Ariane 6 was built by prime contractor and design authority ArianeGroup. In addition to the rocket, the liftoff demonstrated the functioning of the launch pad and operations on ground at Europe's Spaceport. The new custom-built dedicated launch zone was built by France's space agency CNES and allows for a faster turnover of Ariane launches.  

The footage in this video comes from the rocket’s Video Telemetry Kit known as VIKI. Provided by Irish company Réaltra, it delivers live video feed throughout the mission via six cameras located on Ariane 6. The system is independent from Ariane 6’s systems so it doesn’t take processing power or data transmission overhead from the rocket, providing the full high-definition video.