Wednesday 2 December, Soyuz accomplished a flawless launch from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG), Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, orbiting the FalconEye reconnaissance satellite developed by the consortium led by Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. FalconEye’s architecture is similar to that of France’s Pleiades-HR Earth-observation satellites. Soyuz thus accomplished its 24^th mission from the CSG, its first launch in 2020 and the sixth flight of the year in all from the base.

On the occasion of this launch, https://fscience-old.originis.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GLOC_Oslo_Norway_S2_27juillet2022_web-2-1.jpg President Jean-Yves Le Gall commented: “This 24^th flawless launch by Soyuz from the Guiana Space Centre marks the sixth flight this year from the base. I am delighted to see the faith the United Arab Emirates has placed in us, in line with the Strategic Dialogue it has engaged with France at the highest levels of government. I would also like to congratulate all of the teams at ESA, across the Russian and European space industries, at Starsem, Arianespace, UAESA, Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space, and of course at https://fscience-old.originis.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GLOC_Oslo_Norway_S2_27juillet2022_web-2-1.jpg, whose technical and operational prowess was once again on show.”