Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket just notched another milestone.
The most powerful version of the Ariane 6 — known as the 64, because it sports four strap-on solid rocket boosters — lifted off for the first time ever today (Feb. 12).
The Ariane 64 launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 GMT; 1:45 p.m. local time in Kourou), carrying 32 satellites aloft for the Amazon Leo broadband constellation. All of the spacecraft were deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) by one hour and 54 minutes after liftoff as planned, according to Arianespace, the France-based company that operates the Ariane 6.
Today's launch was the sixth overall for the Ariane 6. The 203-foot-tall (62-meter-tall) rocket — the successor to the recently retired Ariane 5 — debuted with a test flight in July 2024 and aced four operational missions last year.
However, all of those previous missions featured the Ariane 62, which has two solid rocket boosters. Today's flight was the first of the 64 version, which can haul more than 20 metric tons of payload to LEO — about twice as much as the 62.
It was also the first Ariane 6 launch for a commercial customer — the others lofted government-operated spacecraft — and the first to feature the rocket's jumbo 65-foot-long (20-meter-long) payload fairing.
Amazon Leo, previously known as Project Kuiper, is Amazon's version of SpaceX's Starlink broadband megaconstellation.
Amazon Leo will eventually consist of more than 3,200 satellites, which will reach orbit on more than 80 launches performed by a variety of rockets — SpaceX's Falcon 9, United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur, Blue Origin's New Glenn and the Ariane 6.
Today's launch was the eighth in the Amazon Leo buildout phase (not counting an October 2023 mission that lofted two prototype satellites). Those eight flights have sent 185 spacecraft to the final frontier.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 6 p.m. ET on Feb. 12 with news of successful satellite deployment.
