Launcher Family - Soyuz

Introduction Family The Starsem Team Launch Site

	Soyuz to join Arianespace's launcher family at Europe's Spaceport The future introduction of Soyuz missions from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana will bring the industry's longest-operating launcher to the world's most modern launch base. Flights with the medium-lift Soyuz will begin from the Spaceport in 2009, joining the ongoing operations of Arianespace's heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the new lightweight Vega vehicle - which also will enter service at French Guiana in 2009. Startup of Soyuz missions from the Spaceport will open a new chapter in the history of this robust vehicle, which introduced the space age with the launch of Sputnik - the world's first satellite - in 1957. Since then, Soyuz has been in continuous production, demonstrating its unmatched reliability with more than 1,700 missions performed to date.