Russian Soyuz rockets belonging to Roscosmos were blocked at the Kourou cosmodrome, writes Politico on July 19.
At least two Soyuz rockets belonging to Roscosmos have reportedly been blocked in French Guiana.
The background to the situation is as follows: in 2005, Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) agreed on the possibility of launching from the Kourou cosmodrome. The location of the cosmodrome provided a major advantage when launching satellites into geostationary orbit.
The use of Soyuz rockets allowed ESA to compensate for the shortage of rockets until the development of its own Ariane 6 project was completed. The first launch of a Soyuz rocket took place in 2011. After the start of the special military operation, joint launches were stopped and the specialists who carried them out returned to Russia. The first successful launch of the Ariane 6 rocket took place in 2024.
Recall that moving the launch site closer to the equator provides a significant advantage when launching satellites into geostationary orbit. This allows for a serious increase in the payload of rockets. For example, a launch provides a 40% increase in payload compared to a launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome, and even more when launching from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (we are talking about reaching a geostationary orbit; when launching satellites into a polar orbit, the Plesetsk cosmodrome has an advantage over the Kourou cosmodrome).
Source: Rossa Primavera
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