Rocket family

Ariane

France1979 to 2026

Ariane is Europe's own route to space, born from a decision in the 1970s that Europe should be able to launch its satellites without asking anyone else. Flying from Kourou in French Guiana, close to the equator, Ariane 4 and Ariane 5 win a large share of the commercial geostationary market and launch Giotto, Rosetta, the James Webb Space Telescope and JUICE. Ariane 6 continues the line from 2024.

Launches: 270
Success rate: 96%; 9 failures · 3 partial
First flight: 1979; Ariane 1
Last flight: 2026; Ariane 62
Rocket types: 18

Launches per year

Show as table

Year	Launches
1979	1
1980	1
1981	2
1982	1
1983	2
1984	4
1985	4
1986	3
1987	2
1988	7
1989	7
1990	6
1991	8
1992	7
1993	7
1994	8
1995	11
1996	11
1997	12
1998	11
1999	10
2000	12
2001	8
2002	12
2003	4
2004	3
2005	5
2006	5
2007	6
2008	6
2009	7
2010	6
2011	5
2012	7
2013	4
2014	6
2015	6
2016	7
2017	6
2018	6
2019	4
2020	3
2021	3
2022	3
2023	2
2024	1
2025	4
2026	4

Ariane rockets

Rocket	Flown	Launches	Success rate	Height	Payload to LEO
Ariane 1	1979 to 1986	11	82%	50 m	1,400 kg
Ariane 3	1984 to 1989	11	91%	49.1 m	6,750 kg
Ariane 2	1986 to 1989	6	83%	49.1 m	5,438 kg
Ariane 44LP	1988 to 2001	26	96%	58.4 m	8,000 kg
Ariane 44L	1989 to 2003	40	98%	58.7 m	10,200 kg
Ariane 40	1990 to 1999	7	100%	55.6 m	4,600 kg
Ariane 42P	1990 to 2002	15	93%	55.9 m	6,000 kg
Ariane 44P	1991 to 2001	15	100%	56.9 m	6,500 kg
Ariane 42L	1993 to 2002	13	100%	55.6 m	7,000 kg
Ariane 5 G	1996 to 2003	16	81%	45.7 m	12,200 kg
Ariane 5 ECA	2002 to 2020	73	97%	57.7 m	10,000 kg
Ariane 5 G+	2004	3	100%	45.7 m	10,000 kg
Ariane 5 GS	2005 to 2009	6	100%	45.7 m	16,500 kg
Ariane 5 ES	2008 to 2018	8	100%	45.7 m	21,000 kg
Ariane 5 ECA+	2019 to 2023	11	100%	57.7 m	10,000 kg
Ariane 62	2024 to 2026	6	100%	63 m	10,900 kg
Ariane 64	2026	2	100%	63 m	21,650 kg
Ariane 64 Block 2	2026	1	100%	63 m	21,900 kg