Kourou as well, although maybe a different definition of European.
sisve•18m ago
Would maybe call it European territory but not soil. But yeah, as you say it's how you define it.
kylecazar•20m ago
They're using "Europe" as political shorthand for Western Europe
MisterMunchkin•22m ago
How can it be the first European rocket? There’s the ESA! Are you telling me we have all these organisations and none of them have ever launched from their own continent?
dmaa•21m ago
They launch from Guiana afaik
echoangle•14m ago
French Guiana to be exact, which is a different country
loeg•20m ago
Europe isn't on or remotely near the equator, which is somewhat favorable for launches.
Achterlangs•17m ago
ESA launches French Guiana. Since it is cheaper to launch closer to the equator with the extra speed provided by the earth's rotation.
artisinal•6m ago
Really comes in handy to still have a couple of colonies near the equator.
It's also better to have the massive amounts of emissions far away from your own population.
mytailorisrich•11m ago
The French used to launch their rockets from Algeria. Their first satellite was launched from there. Since then they moved to (French) Guiana.
blini-kot•37m ago
seszett•29m ago
sisve•18m ago
kylecazar•20m ago