The Kourou space center, located in French Guiana, is suspending the next launch campaigns due to the coronavirus epidemic, Arianespace and CNES president Jean-Yves Le Gall announced on Monday.
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Posted on March 16, 2020 at 2:19 p.m., updated on March 16, 2020 at 2:21 p.m.
“Faced with the Covid-19 epidemic and to immediately implement the measures decided by the French government, the launch campaigns underway at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) are suspended. They will resume as soon as the sanitary conditions allow it “, says the company responsible for the commercial operation of Ariane, Vega and Soyuz launchers.
“This exceptional measure aims to preserve the health of employees and local populations, while ensuring the safety conditions required for the preparation of planned launches “, adds Arianespace in a press release.
Next shot in late March
The next shots fired from the European space station concerned the firing of a Vega rocket at the end of March and the launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite, whose firing planned for March 5 had been postponed due to “additional checks “ on a rocket stage.
The rockets and satellites they carry are put “en standby configuration and in safety conditions“, according to Arianespace. The National Center for Space Studies (CNES), which manages the Kourou space center, has indeed implemented its business continuity plan following an executive committee meeting on Sunday afternoon , its president told AFP.
Telecommuting
CNES employees at the Paris headquarters and in Toulouse are telecommuted with the exception of “those in charge of operations and maintenance of ten or so satellites, so some are strategic, which are the responsibility of CNES“said Le Gall.
The business continuity plan also concerns “operations of rescue and backup services by satellite (Cospas-Sarsat and Galileo) “ as well as space surveillance activities and the management of the network of ground stations, the French space agency said in a press release.
Sleeping construction sites
In addition to the suspension of launches, work in progress at the Kourou space center is also put to sleep, according to Mr. Le Gall. One of them is the new launch pad which will be dedicated to the Ariane 6 rocket, the first firing of which is supposed to take place at the end of the year.
The CSG employs more than 1,700 people, he said on his website, adding that the space sector represents around 15% of Guyana’s GDP. Seven cases of coronavirus were identified in Guyana at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, according to Public Health France.
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