Europe launches their rockets from Kourou, French Guiana in South America.
I took these pictures in November of 1993 while on a trip to watch the launch of
Ariane Vehicle 61. These photos are still relevant and will give you a
feel for Europe's strong Space Program.  Ariane
Vehicle 61 on launch pad at Kourou. This picture was taken from a TV
monitor in the viewing area on November 19th, 1993 about 15 minutes before
launch. This rocket successfully placed a communications satellites and a
weather satellite in orbit.
 Official
photo of Ariane Vehicle 61, version 44LP, night launch on November 19,
1993. Ariane 4 series of rockets has had the largest share of the world's
commercial satellite business. Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has just successfully
entered commercial service after a troubled start. Ariane 5 is not the the
only rocket to enter service after a painful start.
 Picture
of a presentation CNES, the French Space agency, showed us while touring their
facilities. The advantages of launching from French Guiana in South America
are it's stability as a French colony, polar and equatorial launch azimuths,
cyclone and earthquake free, low population, and closeness to the equator.
The rotational effect of the Earth at the equator assist a rocket in lifting a
heavier payload to orbit. I'll always believe Cape Canaveral is the right
place to launch rockets, and that "IS" a biased opinion!
 Tropical
Cayenne is the capitol of French Guiana and is beautiful. Cayenne shuts
down each business day at lunch for a long siesta during the heat of the day.
Cayenne is 6 degrees north of the equator.
 A
CNES picture on the wall of the Launch Control room. This is the Ariane 4 launch
complex. From this launch complex Europe has averaged more than one launch
a month since this picture was taken in 1993. In the foreground is an
Ariane 4 rocket on the launch pad just before launch. To the right of the
rocket is the launch tower rolled back for launch, and the building behind the
launch pad is the Assembly Hall.
 Model
of an Ariane 5 rocket. This picture was taken in November 1993 and was
before the Ariane 5 first flew. This is Europe's newest rocket. It
is interesting that the Ariane 5 is a one size fits all rocket, and two satellites
usually make up it's payload. The Ariane 4 is a configurable (sizeable)
rocket. The United States older rockets were one size fits all, but the
current and next generation rockets are configurable to the size and needs of the
payloads.
 Ariane
5 launch pad. At left are 4 lightning mast. The Ariane 5 rocket will
be rolled out to the launch table in between the lightning mast approximately 8
hours before launch. At right is the water tower used to hold the cooling water
that is dumped on the launch platform seconds before launch. Simplicity
was the goal of this design. It is said that if there were a rocket
problem, they can quickly unload the fuel and roll back inside the assembly
hall.
 1993
Poster celebrating 25 years of Europe's Space activities in French Guiana.
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