Europe's most powerful rocket to launch with four boosters for Amazon

Europe is set to launch its most powerful rocket to date, the Ariane 64, from French Guiana. This mission, designated VA267 (LE-01 for Amazon Leo), marks the first flight of the Ariane 6 rocket in its full four-booster configuration and its inaugural commercial payload delivery. The rocket will deploy 32 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit, supporting Amazon’s broader plan to deploy over 3,200 satellites for its Starlink-competitive constellation, with 18 Ariane 6 launches already booked. The Ariane 64 configuration, featuring four boosters, can carry more than 20 metric tons to orbit and produces 3.5 million pounds of thrust at launch, making it Europe’s most powerful rocket, though still less powerful than SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and Starship. The rocket is built collaboratively by 13 European Space Agency member nations and over 600 subcontractors. Designed to reduce operating costs by half compared to its predecessor Ariane 5,