Europe's most powerful rocket launches for 1st time, carrying 32 Amazon internet satellites to orbit (video)

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket just notched another milestone.

The most powerful version of the Ariane 6 — known as the 64, because it sports four strap-on solid rocket boosters — lifted off for the first time ever today (Feb. 12).

a big white rocket launches into a blue sky — An Ariane 64 rocket launches for the first time ever on Feb. 12, 2026, carrying 32 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit from French Guiana. (Image credit: Arianespace)

Today's launch was the sixth overall for the Ariane 6, a heavy lifter that's operated by the France-based company Arianespace. The 203-foot-tall (62-meter-tall) rocket — the successor to the recently retired Ariane 5 — debuted with a test flight in July 2024 and aced four operational missions last year.

However, all of those previous missions featured the Ariane 62, which has two solid rocket boosters. Today's flight was the first of the 64 version, which can haul more than 20 metric tons of payload to LEO — about twice as much as the 62.

It was also the first Ariane 6 launch for a commercial customer — the others lofted government-operated spacecraft — and the first to feature the rocket's jumbo 65-foot-long (20-meter-long) payload fairing.

long-distance photo of a white rocket launching into a blue sky, with a huge plume of exhaust billowing around it — The Ariane 64 rises into the skies above Kourou, French Guiana on Feb. 12, 2026. (Image credit: Arianespace)

Amazon Leo, previously known as Project Kuiper, is Amazon's version of SpaceX's Starlink broadband megaconstellation.

Amazon Leo will eventually consist of more than 3,200 satellites, which will reach orbit on more than 80 launches performed by a variety of rockets — SpaceX's Falcon 9, United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur, Blue Origin's New Glenn and the Ariane 6.

Today's launch was the eighth in the Amazon Leo buildout phase (not counting an October 2023 mission that lofted two prototype satellites). Those eight flights have sent 185 spacecraft to the final frontier.

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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