Mainland EU's first orbital launch site was inaugurated in January 2023. It is located at Esrange, in Kiruna, high up north in Sweden. The Themis program ("reu

Mainland EU's first orbital launch site was inaugurated in January 2023. It is located at Esrange, in Kiruna, high up north in Sweden. The Themis program ("reusable space launcher demonstrator") will actually do some of their tests there. I wonder how much of the "lag" in European space launcher innovation is due to the logistics of having to haul everything half a planet away to Kourou over an ocean for the actual launches. Hopefully having a mainland facility will improve things.