- Home
- Projects
- Guiana Space Centre
- Jet guide and deflector of the ELA4: inspected after the first four Ariane 6 launches
Jet guide and deflector of the ELA4: inspected after the first four Ariane 6 launches
After the maiden flight of Ariane 6 in July 2024, then after the launches of March, August and November 2025, we photographed the jet guide of the ELA4, outside and inside over its full height, together with its deflector.
Background
Beneath the launch table, the jet guide channels the engine exhaust towards the flame trenches; at the bottom, the deflector splits it between the two. They are the most exposed parts of the launch complex, and their condition is checked after every launch, before preparations for the next one begin.
What we did
The drone circles the jet guide outside, then flies inside for 360° views over the full height; the pilot goes down into the flame trench to keep the aircraft in sight. The deflector is photographed up close. The first inspection, after the July 2024 flight, was ordered by CNES; the following ones, after the flights of March, August and November 2025, by Groupe ADF, which also asked us for two deflector inspections in 2025. The photos are delivered sorted, with mosaics viewable in a web interface. Like all imagery on the base, they are submitted to the CNES security department before any processing, and no archive is kept after delivery.
5 related missions in the log
Jet guide and deflector inspected after the fourth Ariane 6 launch
The same imagery after the November 2025 flight: jet guide outside and inside, then the deflector.
ELA4 jet guide inspected after the third Ariane 6 launch
Outside and inside of the jet guide in 360° views, over its full height.
Inspection of the ELA4 deflector
Close-up photos of the deflector of the Ariane 6 launch complex.
ELA4 jet guide inspected after the second Ariane 6 launch
Outside of the jet guide and inside in 360° views over its full height; photos and mosaics viewable in a web interface.
Flame trenches, jet guide and deflector inspected after the first Ariane 6 launch
After the July 2024 maiden flight: concrete walls of the flame trenches, sprinkler nozzles, jet guide in 360° views over its full height and deflector, with mosaics viewable in a web interface.
Other projects
The Ariane 6 launch complex construction, filmed and photographed from 2018 to 2021
From 2018 to 2021, aerial photo and video campaigns on the ELA4 construction site: fourteen films published by the Guiana Space Centre, photos used by ESA, Espace & Exploration and Latitude 5.
Launch campaigns: fifteen launches covered in Kourou from 2017 to 2019
Aerial photography of the launch complexes during Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega campaigns, within the windows authorised by the base: fifteen launches from December 2017 to December 2019.
Flame trenches of the Ariane 6 launch complex: inspections and a digital twin at 1.5 mm per pixel
Since November 2023 we have photographed the inside of the two flame trenches of the ELA4, which carry the engine exhaust away at lift-off. In 2025 a photogrammetric survey turned them into a digital twin and eight orthophotos at about 1.5 mm per pixel.
Tell us about your project
Location, area or structure, expected deliverables and timing: with these details we can propose a method and a quote.
97310 Kourou
French Guiana
Route des Trois-Îlets
97229 Les Trois-Îlets
Martinique
20030-041 Rio de Janeiro – RJ
Brazil