KOUROU, French Guiana – A sign reading “Stop. Danger of death. Work in progress” – in Russian – remains affixed to a wall inside the abandoned Soyuz launch complex here, a relic of a space partnership abruptly halted by the war in Ukraine. The former launchpad is undergoing a transformation, shedding vestiges of Russia’s two-decade presence as it prepares to accommodate a new generation of European rockets.
Russia launched Soyuz rockets from Kourou between 2011 and 2022, leveraging the site’s location near the equator, which offers advantages for certain missions compared to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The complex was abandoned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequent European sanctions, with Russian teams departing hastily, leaving the facility frozen in time. Agence France-Presse is the first media outlet to tour the site since the withdrawal.
In 2024, the launch complex was assigned to MaiaSpace, a French startup developing the first reusable European launcher. The company’s inaugural flight, currently delayed, is slated for the end of 2026.
Inside the Diderot administrative building, logos are being replaced, though Cyrillic posters and instructions remain. Even the office supplies bear traces of the former occupants; MaiaSpace staff continue to use “Snegourotchka” (The Snow Maiden) printer paper, recognizable by its pale blue packaging adorned with snowy landscapes – an incongruous detail in the tropical climate.
Outside, the massive infrastructure stands as a testament to a now-defunct space cooperation. The metal arms that once held the Soyuz rocket in place are still painted blue and yellow – a striking, if unintentional, echo of the Ukrainian flag. These arms will be dismantled as part of the site’s reconfiguration.
A full-scale Soyuz mockup is currently being used to test the rails that will guide Maia’s rocket from the integration building to its launchpad. Once testing is complete, the mockup will be scrapped. “It will be cut up, there’s no point in keeping it,” Denis Grauby, MaiaSpace’s representative at the Guiana Space Centre, told AFP.
The director of the Guiana Space Centre, Philippe Lier, acknowledged a degree of sentimentality surrounding the dismantling of the complex. “There are a lot of nostalgic people here who wanted to keep everything we dismantle, store it somewhere, make a museum… I’m not in that mindset,” he told AFP. He did, however, concede the “vintage” quality of the site was “moving,” comparing it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, from which Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, launched in 1961.
“Reconfiguring it, not letting it rot, is a good story. It will be a new page in the conquest of space,” Lier said.
The scale of the task is evident in the tons of Russian machinery that comprised the core of the launchpad, all destined for the scrapyard, along with the gantry that sheltered the Soyuz rockets from the elements. The Maia launcher will be assembled horizontally and moved to the launchpad just before liftoff, rendering the gantry unnecessary.
Doubts linger regarding the feasibility of meeting the planned inaugural flight date in late 2026, particularly when observing the surprisingly empty integration building. However, MaiaSpace maintains that this appearance belies months of unseen effort; procuring the necessary equipment for the new launcher takes less time than clearing out the old.
“When we took over the site, everything was left in place. We’ve filled a few dumpsters,” said Maxime Tranier, MaiaSpace’s technical coordinator. The rails and lifting bridges within the integration building, as well as the lightning rods surrounding the launch table, have been retained.