Kourou in French Guiana
Ahead of the upcoming launch of the Copernicus Sentinel-2C, we take a closer look at Kourou, the headquarters of the Guiana Space Centre.
Kourou is a coastal town in north-central French Guiana, an overseas department of France. It lies at the mouth of the Kourou River, where its waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean after a journey of 144 km through dense tropical rainforest. The city is surrounded by a landscape rich in biodiversity, with mangroves lining the riverbanks and extensive white sandy beaches stretching along the coast. The region's economy is deeply rooted in agriculture, with crops such as coffee, cocoa and tropical fruits the main products.
To the northwest of Kourou is the Guiana Space Centre, known as Europe's Spaceport. Established in 1964, the spaceport's proximity to the equator provides an ideal location for launching satellites into orbit. The spaceport has been the starting point for many important satellite missions and plays a key role in Europe's independent access to space endeavours.
This image was acquired by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 A satellite on 10 October 2023. More information on the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission is available here.
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