MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. \u2014 The more powerful version of Europe\u2019s Ariane 6 rocket successfully placed a group of Amazon Leo broadband satellites into orbit on the vehicle\u2019s inaugural launch Feb. 12.<\/p>\n
The Ariane 64 lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana at 11:45 a.m. Eastern on Arianespace\u2019s VA267 mission. The vehicle\u2019s upper stage completed its deployment of 32 Amazon Leo satellites nearly two hours later.<\/p>\n
The launch was the first for the Ariane 64, a version of the Ariane 6 with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters. The five previous flights of the Ariane 6 were of the Ariane 62 variant, with two strap-on boosters. The Ariane 64 can place about 20 tons into low Earth orbit, twice the performance of the Ariane 62.<\/p>\n
The launch was the first of 18 missions by Arianespace for Amazon, its biggest commercial customer. Those missions required the use of the more powerful Ariane 64 as well as a longer payload fairing 20 meters long, also used for the first time on this launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the first flight of Ariane 64, Europe\u2019s heavy-lift launcher has demonstrated its ability to deliver the most demanding large-scale constellation missions,\u201d David Cavaillol\u00e8s, chief executive of Arianespace, said in a statement after the launch.<\/p>\n