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Robert Wall
Thierry Dubois
February 17, 2026
Arianespace launched its first Ariane 6 heavy with four P120C boosters on Feb. 12, taking 32 Amazon Leo satellites to low Earth orbit. Credit: P.Pron/ESA/CNES/Arianespace/ArianeGroup
Europe had to do some heavy lifting to revitalize its space launch operations, but the first flight of the Ariane 64 rocket for marquee customer Amazon shifts the region fully from rebound into growth mode. The Ariane 6 took off—sporting four rather than only two P120C boosters—from the European…
Europe Turns A Corner With Ariane 64 First Flight For Amazon is available to both Aviation Week & Space Technology and AWIN subscribers.
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