The Kourou Space Centre, in French Guiana, South America, is the prime launching site for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is also called the Guianan Space Centre, or CSG (Centre Spatiale Guyanais). It was established in 1964 by the French space organization, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Occupying a coastal strip of jungle and savannah, it is bounded on one side by the Atlantic Ocean and on the other by the Amazonian rainforest. It is the base for launching ESA's Ariane launch vehicles. The original launch pad, ELA-1, was used for the earliest Ariane launches. Assembly of the rockets took place on the pad from a mobile assembly and service building, which was rolled away prior to launch. The Ariane 3 and 4 launch vehicles now being used are launched from pad ELA-2. Assembly takes place in a separate building, from which a vehicle is rolled on a trolley to the pad. There technicians make the final preparations for launch, working from a retractable servicing gantry. Construction is going ahead of a third pad, EL-3, from which the more powerful Ariane-5 rocket and the Hermes spaceplane will launch after 1995.
