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ArianeGroup

Europe's sovereign access to space — builder of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle

Founded2015
HeadquartersLes Mureaux, France
ClusterToulouse-Aerospace Valley
DomainSpace & Aerospace
PillarThe Shield
StatusGrowth
Employees~8,300
Websitehttps://ariane.group

ArianeGroup is a joint venture between Airbus and Safran that develops and manufactures the Ariane family of launch vehicles, providing Europe with independent access to space. The Ariane 6 rocket, which entered service in 2024, is designed to restore European competitiveness in the commercial launch market while guaranteeing sovereign orbital access for institutional payloads including military satellites and Earth observation systems. Without ArianeGroup, Europe would be entirely dependent on American or other foreign launch providers to place its critical assets in orbit, making the company a non-negotiable pillar of European strategic autonomy.