The French space agency CNES has published a call aimed at reassigning the Soyuz launch site at the Guiana Space Centre to a new tenant.
In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ESA decided to cut all ties with Russia. This decision included the cessation of all Soyuz launches from the European launch facility in French Guiana. Between 2011 and 2022, Soyuz launches were conducted from a launch site located approximately 10 kilometers north of the new Ariane 6 launch site.
Following the cessation of Soyuz launches, it was agreed that ESA would transfer ownership of the site back to CNES under the provision that it would host two new launch systems. The first will be selected by CNES as part of its recently published call. The second will be selected by ESA as part of the agency’s launcher challenge, which was publically announced in late 2023.
According to the CNES call, prospective candidate vehicles will be required to be capable of deploying payloads of at least 1.5 tonnes into low Earth orbit. Additionally, a maiden flight from the launch site will need to be completed no later than 2027. This will drastically limit the potential bidders.
The most likely potential bidder is MaiaSpace. The company is currently targeting 2025 for the maiden flight of its Maia rocket, which is designed to deliver 1,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit when launched in an expendable configuration. This would appear to make it an ideal candidate.
Avio is also working on a new launch vehicle outside of its Vega range of rockets that may be capable of delivering on the stated requirements. The company is expected to launch a prototype rocket by 2026. This could potentially give them a shot at launching a maiden flight of the as-yet-unannounced follow-on vehicle by the end of 2027, but the timeline would be tight.
Another potential candidate is RFA. While the company’s current RFA ONE vehicle will not be capable of delivering 1,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit, its RFA ONE MAX upgrade will. With the company expecting to debut RFA ONE by the end of this year, the introduction of RFA ONE MAX by 2027 is feasible.
