Ariane 6 rocket roars skyward carrying a French military reconnaissance satellite

An Ariane 6 rocket has roared skyward with a French subject reconnaissance outer aboard successful the archetypal commercialized formation for the European heavy-lift launcher

PARIS -- An Ariane 6 rocket roared skyward with a French subject reconnaissance outer aboard Thursday successful the archetypal commercialized formation for the European heavy-lift launcher.

The rocket took disconnected smoothly from the European spaceport successful Kourou, French Guiana, rapidly disappearing into heavy clouds. Video images beamed backmost from the rocket showed the Earth's beauteous colors and curvature.

The rocket's ngo was to present the CSO-3 subject reflection outer into orbit astatine an altitude of astir 800 kilometers (500 miles).

It was the archetypal commercialized ngo for Ariane 6 aft its maiden formation successful July 2024.