Guiana Space Centre

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(Redirected from Centre Spatial Guyanais)

The now-decommissioned Ariane 4 launch site

The Guiana Space Centre (French: Centre Spatial Guyanais or CSG) is a French spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. Operational since 1968, it is particularly suitable as a location for a spaceport due to its proximity to the equator, and the fact that launches in the favourable direction are over water. The European Space Agency, the French space agency CNES, and the commercial Arianespace company conduct launches from Kourou.

The place was selected in 1964 to become the spaceport of France. When the European Space Agency (ESA) was founded in 1975, France offered to share Kourou with ESA. Commercial launches are bought also by non-European companies. ESA pays two thirds of the spaceport's annual budget, and has also financed the upgrades made during the development of the Ariane launchers.

1 Facilities
2 Launch safety
3 Soyuz at CSG
4 Recent launches
5 References
6 External links

The final assembly building for Ariane 5

Kourou is located approximately 500 km north of the equator, at a latitude of 5°10'. At this latitude, the Earth's rotation gives an additional velocity of approximately 500 m/s, when the launch trajectory heads eastward. Therefore, manœuvreing the satellites to the desired orbit is usually a simpler process.

The ground facilities at GSC include launcher and satellite preparation buildings, launch operation facilities and a solid propellant factory. GSC covers a total of 850 square kilometres.

Main article: ELA-1

CECLES was built in the 1960s for the Europa-II rocket. One Europa-II was launched from the site, before the programme was cancelled. The pad was demolished, and subsequently rebuilt as the first launch complex for Ariane rockets, ELA, later redesignated ELA 1, which was used for Ariane 1, 2 and 3 launches until it was retired in 1989.^[1] It is being rebuilt to support launches of the Vega rocket, under the designation ELV.

ELA 2 was used for Ariane 4 launches until 2003.

ELA 3 is currently in active use for Ariane 5 launches. These facilities cover 21 square kilometres.^[2]

The Final Assembly Building is located 2.8 kilometers (1.7 mi) from the ELA-3 launch zone. The mobile launch table completes the trip with an Ariane 5 in about one hour. It is then secured in place over the launch pad's flame ducts.^[3]

Fire safety is ensured by a detachment of the Paris Fire Brigade. Safety around the base is ensured by French Gendarmerie forces, assisted by the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion.

The Guiana Space Centre (as per CNES) also holds the Îles du Salut, a former penal colony including the infamous Devil's Island. Now a tourist site, the islands are under the launching trajectory for geosynchronous orbit and have to be evacuated during launches.

ESA is currently building facilities for launching Russian-built Soyuz rockets from this spaceport near Sinnamari, a village 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the site used for the Ariane-5. Under the terms of a Russo-European joint venture, ESA will augment its own launch vehicle fleet with Soyuz rockets (and use them to launch ESA and/or commercial payloads) and the Russians will get access to the Kourou spaceport for launching their own payloads with Soyuz rockets. They will thus use the Guiana Space Centre as an alternative to their Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan launching site, with the benefit of significantly added payload capability due to the before-mentioned position near the equator.

The project is being co-funded by Arianespace, ESA, and the European Union, with CNES being the prime contractor. The project has a projected cost of approximately €320 mio, where €120 mio are allocated for modernizing the Soyuz vehicle ^[4]. The official opening of the launch site construction occurred on February 27, 2007. Excavation work however, started several months before and is expected to run through most of Q2 2007. Russian firms are due to arrive at the spaceport starting March, to build the necessary infrastructure and support facilities for operating the Soyuz launch vehicle. The maiden launch of Soyuz from CSG is currently planned for late 2008. ^[5]

In November 2007, reports^[6] emerged attributed to Vladimir Grezdilov, general director of the Mir company, of thefts from the Soyuz site near Sinnamari, a village 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the site used for the Ariane-5, that might cause delays to its completion and the first launches. Grezdilov said that the local security company was involved.