Overview
- Lift‑off from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou occurred at 02:01 local time (05:01 GMT) on December 17.
- Satellites SAT 33 and SAT 34 were deployed into medium Earth orbit at about 22,922 km, separating 3 hours 55 minutes after launch, according to Arianespace.
- The additions raise the Galileo constellation to 34 spacecraft, reinforcing the EU’s independent global navigation service.
- Galileo provides real‑time positioning accuracy on the order of a metre using dual‑frequency signals for billions of users worldwide.
- The flight was Ariane 6’s fourth commercial mission of 2025, with Arianespace citing growing reliability as the rocket prepares for an Ariane 64 launch for Amazon’s Project Kuiper in early 2026.