Jun 14 1975
From The Space Library
France would begin deactivating its space center at Kourou, French Guiana, in September, the New York Times reported. A space center spokesman was quoted as saying, "We'll have to put the space center to sleep for a while because of lack of funds." The deactivation did not mean that the French were abandoning their ambition to achieve independence from the U.S. in space operations but that it would take longer than originally thought. The European space program at Kourou would resume with launches of several experimental rockets scheduled in 1979 and a satellite launch planned for the 1980s.
Since its establishment in April 1968, the Kourou center had launched more than 225 balloons, satellites, and sounding rockets. Its location 5° north of the equator made Kourou especially suitable for equatorial launches. The largest of its disappointments had been the failure of the Europa 2 launch vehicle in 1971, a program finally abandoned in 1973 in favor of the Ariane booster. (Howe, NYT, 14 June 75)
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