The laws of orbital mechanics press rocket designers to seek potential launch sites as close to the Equator as possible. The space vehicle launched due East anywhere on the Equator can use Earth rotation to its full advantage, maximizing the payload and minimizing the cost. What else can be better than South American coast of French Guiana that becomes an ideal choice for future space hub.
Russians first foreign guests in French Guiana
Early on, the French government made an official decision to make the site available to any country willing to deploy its space launcher systems there. At the time, few could predict that Russian rockets would become first “foreign guests” in Kourou.
Now Soyuz in Kourou
The announcement comes three years after Paris and Moscow agreed to allow Russian rockets to use the space centre to launch telecoms satellites into space.
The project’s development is taking place successfully, which will allow Russian Soyuz rockets to blast off from the European space center at Kourou in the South American French overseas department. The rockets in question — Soyuz 2-1B — are equipped with a new third stage kerosene and oxygen engine and are considered more powerful than their predecessors.
One such rocket is scheduled to be launched Wednesday from Baikonur, Kazakhstan carrying a French-made Corot satellite designed to hunt for Earth-like planets in other star systems. The launch was initially scheduled for last Wednesday, but was delayed for technical reasons.
Via: Physorg
