00:0010, 9, 8, 7, 6...
00:04The most powerful version yet of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Thursday,
00:11bringing with it 32 satellites for Amazon Leo's broadband constellation.
00:16The Ariane 6-4, named after its four boosters, made its maiden launch from the European spaceport in Kourou.
00:23The Ariane 6 program is backed by 13 nations, all members of the European Space Agency.
00:31The flagship of Europe's rocket industry is competing in a highly competitive global market against heavyweight players,
00:38including Elon Musk's market leader SpaceX.
00:41U.S. firm Amazon, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is the main commercial partner for the Ariane 6,
00:47despite the latter being touted as a symbol of European sovereignty in the sector.
00:52With these 32 satellites, Amazon will have a total of 200 in the sky and it aims at having over
01:013,000 in the next few years.
01:04So this is only the first out of 18 launches planned with Amazon for Ariane 6.
01:11This heavy-lift rocket has been designed to replace Ariane 5 and restore Europe's independent access to space,
01:20after several years of delays and a launch gap that has left the continent reliant on foreign providers.
01:27Thank you, trust me.
01:29Sorry about this.
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