VS20 - 19/12/2018
Channel: arianespace
Date: 2018-12-19

For its 11th and final launch of the year – and the third in 2018 with the Soyuz medium launcher – Arianespace will send the CSO-1 Earth observation satellite, intended for defense and security applications, into Sun-synchronous orbit for the French CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) space agency and the DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) defense procurement agency on behalf of the French Ministry of Defense.

This also will be the 20th mission carried out by Soyuz since it began operating at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in October 2011.

With this latest launch at the service of France’s defense requirements, as well as for the capacity needs of several partner countries, Arianespace once again guarantees French and European autonomous access to space – a strategic priority, and a key element for sovereignty.

Liftoff is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at exactly: 
- 11:37:14 a.m., in Washington, D.C. 
- 01:37:14 p.m., in Kourou, French Guiana 
- 16:37:14, Universal Time (UTC) 
- 05:37:14 p.m., in Paris 
- 07:37:14 p.m., in Moscou 
- 01:37:14 a.m., in Tokyo on December 19, 2018.