ELA-4 (French: Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 4, lit. 'Ariane Launch Complex 4') is a launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana supporting launches of the Ariane 6 program. ELA-4 is located along the Route de l'Espace in the Roche Christine site, between the ELA-3 and ELS launch facilities. The complex is composed of a launch pad with mobile gantry, an horizontal assembly building and a dedicated launch operations building.
 ELA-4 under construction in November 2019 | |||||||||
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| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre | ||||||||
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| Location | 5°15′54″N 52°47′31″W / 5.265°N 52.792°W | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−03 (GFT) | ||||||||
| Short name | ELA-4 | ||||||||
| Established | September 2021 | ||||||||
| Operator | Arianespace · ESA | ||||||||
| Total launches | 1 | ||||||||
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History
editCNES was responsible for the construction of the Ariane 6 ground segments including the new launch pad. Earthworks on the 170-hectare (420-acre) launch site began at the end of June 2015 and was completed at the start of 2016. Four platforms were levelled to accommodate the launch pad, the liquid oxygen and hydrogen tanks and the assembly building. Civil engineering works on the flame trench and other buildings began in the summer of 2016 and ended in 2019.[1][2] The launch facility was inaugurated on 28 September 2021 in presence of most of the 600 workers employed at the site, 75% of which recruited locally.[3]
Gallery
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Earthworks for the flame trench in August 2017 -
Horizontal assembly building construction in 2017 -
Closeup view of the pad's flame diverters in 2019
See also
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References
edit- ^ "The Ariane 6 system: On board-ground interfaces and launch facility" (PDF) (in French). CNES. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ "Ariane 6". ESA. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ "ELA-4 launch complex inaugurated at Guiana Space Centre". CNES. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.