Europe launches rocket with Amazon satellites against Starlink
The European Space Agency launched an Ariane 6 rocket carrying 32 Amazon Leo satellites. The mission was the first of 18 planned launches and is expected to intensify competition with Starlink in the satellite internet market.
Europe has successfully launched its most powerful rocket, the Ariane 6, carrying Amazon satellites, marking a direct challenge to Elon Musk’s Starlink, reports RBC.
On Thursday, February 12, the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched the heavy version of the Ariane 6 rocket from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana.
This launch is the first of 18 planned for the Ariane 6. On board were 32 Amazon LEO satellites for Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper. They are intended to become part of a global internet network and strengthen competition with SpaceX’s Starlink.
This Ariane 64 version, with four boosters, can deliver over 20 tons of payload to low Earth orbit – twice the capacity of the previous Ariane 62 version.
Industry experts say that Ariane 6 is not just hardware, but a symbol of Europe’s space independence and its ability to compete in the commercial market.
For the European Space Agency (ESA), this success is a strategic triumph following a series of technical challenges in the past. Ahead lie 17 more planned missions, aiming to deploy a constellation of 3,200 satellites and challenge SpaceX’s dominance in global space-based internet.
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