Today, March 6, 2025, Arianespace successfully launched an Ariane 6 rocket for the second time. The launch was the first commercial flight of the new European heavy launch vehicle. The VA263 mission carried into orbit the French CSO-3 Earth Observation satellite.
At 16:24 UTC, the rocket, in its two-booster configuration, lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Nearly three minutes into the flight, the two solid side boosters separated from the main stage.
🚀On March 6 #Arianespace successfully launched with #Ariane6 the CSO-3 satellite for @DGA & @CNES on behalf of @Armee_de_lair @Armees_Gouv.
— Arianespace (@Arianespace) March 6, 2025
Arianespace guarantees independent access to space for France and Europe, meeting a strategic priority.
Release: https://t.co/7h3xgPKva9 pic.twitter.com/OU6EsdPxZ5
Five minutes later, the upper stage separated, igniting the Vinci engine two times before deploying the satellite at T+ 01:06:44.
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CSO-3
The payload of today’s launch is the third and last satellite of the French Composante Spatiale Optique fleet. This Earth observation constellation is part of the MUSIM ( MUltinational Space-based Imaging System for Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Observation) program, developed by the DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) and the French space agency CNES to replace the Helios 2 satellites.
The CSO systems aim to provide the French armed forces and their allies with sovereign high-resolution image acquisition, at day and night, from any operational theater worldwide.
To achieve key responsiveness capabilities, the satellites are positioned in Sun-synchronous orbits at different altitudes. CSO-1 and 3, placed at 800 km of altitude, provide Very High Resolution imagery (~ 30 cm of resolution), carrying out “reconnaissance” missions through coverage and acquisition of the theater. CSO-2 provides Extremely High-Resolution imagery (~ 20 cm) for more specific “identification” missions.
Airbus Defence and Space is the prime contractor for the development of the spacecraft, which are based on the same platform of the Pléiades satellites. Thales Alenia Space produced the high-resolution optical observation instruments.
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Independent space and defense capacity
Today’s mission marked an important step for the European independent access to space and French sovereign acquisition of critical data for Intelligence and Defense needs.
The launch and delivery of the new CSO satellite comes at a critical time for French and European needs. Recent shifts in the international geopolitical scenarios are leading to a faster-than-previously-expected, at least partial, U.S. disengagement from supporting military and intelligence operations in the Ukraine conflict—and possibly soon in the rest of Europe.
Between Wednesday and Thursday, John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, confirmed that the US has paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Previously, on March 4, the White House announced a temporary stop in weapons delivery to Ukraine’s armed forces.
This situation is placing most European countries in a complex position, with limited capability to replace the vast amount of data collected by the United States through numerous assets on land, at sea, in the air, and in space.
As an example, in recent years, the role of satellite services provided by the Starlink system has also been questioned due to alleged shifts in the stance of the company’s owner, Elon Musk, regarding the provision of data and services to Ukraine in the context of the conflict.
In this case as well, Europe would face significant difficulties in compensating for Starlink’s high capabilities due to a lack of equivalent European capacity in the sector. Recent rumors suggest that the European Union and Eutelsat are in talks to supply additional internet access to Ukraine, thus at least partially compensating for potential Starlink’s stepback.
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