ESA weighs options for replacing Soyuz launches

The European Space Agency is looking at options for launching missions that were to fly on Russia’s Soyuz rocket, including both non-European rockets and early use of the Ariane 6. The ESA Council meeting that concluded March 17 addressed Russia’s Feb. 26 decision to halt Soyuz launches from French Guiana and withdraw its personnel there in response to European sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. That decision puts five European missions in limbo: two launches of Galileo navigation satellites, ESA’s Euclid space observatory and EarthCARE Earth science satellites, and a French reconnaissance satellite. More

(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 21)