Europe's Ariane 64 heavy launcher puts Amazon satellites in orbit

February 12, 2026 3:45 PM EST

PARIS, Feb ‌12 (Reuters) - ​Europe ​launched the first of a larger new ‌version of its Ariane 6 ⁠rocket on Thursday, propelling 32 ‌satellites for Amazon ‌to low Earth orbit.

Lift-off took place at 1:45 p.m. ​local time (1645 GMT) from Europe’s Spaceport in French ⁠Guiana, and separation of the last ​satellite occurred after 114 minutes, the European Space Agency ​said.

Operated by Arianespace, ‌the mission took place on the maiden ⁠flight of the four-booster Ariane 64, the larger of ⁠two versions of the Ariane 6 ​space launcher, produced by Airbus and Safran joint venture ArianeGroup.

It marks ‌the start of 18 Ariane 6 launches ‌contracted for the Amazon ⁠Leo constellation, ‌previously known ​as Kluipert.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by Nick ‌Zieminski)



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