Europe's Ariane wins Amazon boost at space gathering

A giant model of Ariane Group's Ariane 6 rocket is displayed during the International Summit on Space at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Amazon Leo has ordered six additional launches ⁠on Europe's Ariane 6 launcher, operator Arianespace said on Wednesday, in ‌a boost to Europe's flagship rocket programme.

The announcement at a Paris space gathering brings the number of Ariane launches commissioned by Amazon to 24 by 2031.

The new flights will begin ​on the high-capacity Ariane 64 version in ⁠2029, the commercial arm of ArianeGroup ⁠said.

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the deal at the opening of a ⁠two-day ‌space summit shunned by top U.S. space firms including Blue Origin, the launch provider owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, following ⁠what sources last week described as White House pressure ​over the summit's Europe-led ‌agenda.

Amazon aims to provide broadband internet globally with its low-Earth orbit ⁠network of ​thousands of planned satellites, challenging SpaceX's Starlink, which has amassed millions of customers worldwide.

Amazon has mostly relied on the Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance, Boeing ⁠and Lockheed Martin's joint rocket venture, to get ​its satellites to space.

Wednesday's deal shows a deepening reliance on Europe's prime launcher as U.S. supply faces a shortage, though European launch activity remains dwarfed ⁠by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Arianespace has placed 100 Amazon Leo satellites into orbit on three Ariane 6 missions so far this year.

Amazon previously faced a regulatory requirement to launch half of its initial 3,232 satellites by this summer, ​but that was waived in June after the ⁠company cited a shortage in supply.

Arianespace said earlier on Wednesday it would announce ​other new business bringing the number of extra ‌launches to 10. Currently it has orders ​for about 30 launches, with slots available in 2029 and 2030, a spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher. Editing by Mark Potter)

Thank you for your report!

Two Perak districts’ agriculture boosted by smart technology

Islamic scholars must understand technology, 'read the times', says Zahid

Vietnam, Japan seek stronger cooperation in science, technology and digital transformation

2026年9月9日，在法国巴黎大皇宫举行的国际空间峰会上，展出了阿里安集团阿里安6号火箭的巨型模型。（路透社/Stephanie Lecocq）

巴黎，9 月 9 日（路透社）——运营商 Arianespace 周三表示，亚马逊 Leo 已向欧洲订购了六次额外的 Ariane 6 运载火箭发射任务，这为欧洲的旗舰火箭计划注入了动力。

在巴黎太空大会上宣布的这项消息意味着，到 2031 年，亚马逊委托进行的阿里安火箭发射次数将达到 24 次。

ArianeGroup的商业部门表示，新航班将于2029年开始使用高容量的Ariane 64版本。

法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙在为期两天的太空峰会开幕式上对该协议表示欢迎。此前，包括亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝佐斯拥有的发射服务提供商蓝色起源在内的美国顶级太空公司缺席了此次峰会，消息人士称，白宫上周就峰会以欧洲为主导的议程施加了压力。

亚马逊计划通过其近地轨道网络（由数千颗卫星组成）在全球范围内提供宽带互联网服务，挑战 SpaceX 的星链（Starlink），后者已在全球积累了数百万用户。

亚马逊主要依靠联合发射联盟（波音公司和洛克希德·马丁公司合资成立的火箭公司）的阿特拉斯五号火箭将其卫星送入太空。

周三达成的协议表明，随着美国运载火箭供应短缺，美国对欧洲主要运载火箭的依赖程度越来越高，尽管欧洲的发射活动与埃隆·马斯克的SpaceX公司相比仍然相形见绌。

今年迄今为止，Arianespace 已通过三次 Ariane 6 火箭发射任务将 100 颗亚马逊 Leo 卫星送入轨道。

亚马逊此前面临监管要求，必须在今年夏天之前发射其最初 3232 颗卫星中的一半，但由于该公司声称供应短缺，该要求在 6 月份被豁免。

阿丽亚娜航天公司周三早些时候表示，将宣布其他新业务，使额外发射次数达到 10 次。一位发言人表示，目前该公司已接到约 30 次发射订单，2029 年和 2030 年还有空位。

（蒂姆·赫弗报道，马克·波特编辑）

感谢您的报告！

智能技术助力霹雳州两个地区的农业发展

扎希德说，伊斯兰学者必须了解科技，“读懂时代”。

越南和日本寻求在科学、技术和数字化转型领域加强合作