{"id":295365,"date":"2026-02-21T15:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/295365\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T15:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:42:08","slug":"abandoned-space-station-that-cost-1-75bn-to-build-frozen-in-time-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/295365\/","title":{"rendered":"Abandoned space station that cost \u00a31.75bn to build – frozen in time | World | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

An abandoned space station has been left frozen in time after its Russian teams were forced to leave the site in haste. The European Space<\/a> Agency logo can still be seen on a former rocket launch complex site at Kourou in French Guiana on February 13, 2026. Between 2011 and 2022, Russia<\/a> launched Soyuz rockets from Kourou, in French Guiana, taking advantage of its proximity to the equator, which was more favorable than Baikonur for certain missions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was abandoned overnight after Russia<\/a>‘s aggression against Ukraine<\/a> in response to European sanctions. Images of the site show it is almost completely empty and its historic items are left exactly as they were. According to the European Space Agency, it cost \u20ac2 billion (\u00a31.75bn) to build.<\/p>\n

It was only in 2024 that this launch complex was assigned to the French start-up MaiaSpace, which is developing the first reusable European launcher, whose maiden flight, delayed, is scheduled for the end of 2022.<\/p>\n

According to reports, the Guiana Space Center enjoys a strategic geographical location near the equator in French Guiana.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arianespace says: \u201cThis location makes it possible to exploit the slingshot effect of the Earth\u2019s rotation, optimizing the efficiency of launches to carry heavier payloads with less fuel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIts civilian and neutral status is certified by international ITAR and NATO<\/a> standards, guaranteeing a secure environment that complies with global regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Tripadvisor<\/a>, more than 500 launches have left from this vital space center, which began in the 1960s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, there are guided tours of the facility and its six launch sites are among the region’s most popular attractions.<\/p>\n

One person who visited on Tripadvisor penned: \u201cThis hidden gem is probably my favourite place on earth. Ironic that this is Europe<\/a>\u2019s launch site for all its satellites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to see a launch when I was there. You can actually get a ticket with a reservation or go to one of the free viewing sites which are well organized.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An abandoned space station has been left frozen in time after its Russian teams were forced to leave…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[17614,162983,132724,111,139,69,13195,162984,147,392,9415],"class_list":{"0":"post-295365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-european-space-agency","9":"tag-kourou-spaceport","10":"tag-maiaspace","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-roscosmos","15":"tag-russian-soyuz-rockets","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-space","18":"tag-space-exploration"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}