4 November 2025 – On November 4, 2025 at 6:02 p.m. local time in Kourou, French Guiana (9:02 p.m. UTC, 10:02 p.m. CET), Ariane 6 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport carrying the Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite. With this third commercial flight, Ariane 6, the European heavy-lift launcher operated by Arianespace, successfully placed Sentinel-1D into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 693 km. Spacecraft separation occurred 34 minutes after lift-off. For this third commercial mission, the Ariane 6 vehicle was in the two-booster Ariane 62 configuration with a short fairing. Ariane 6 is a program developed within the framework of the European Space Agency (ESA). As prime contractor and design authority for the launcher, ArianeGroup is responsible for development and production alongside its industrial partners. Ariane 6 is marketed and operated by Arianespace. Read more