Final Mission: Ariane 5 Rocket Launches as Europe's Space Program Transitions

After 27 years of service, Ariane 5 completed its final successful launch, deploying two communications satellites for France and Germany.
The launch leaves Europe without an independent heavy-lift rocket capability for the foreseeable future due to delays with Ariane 6 and limited access to Russian and Italian rockets.
Known for its reliability, Ariane 5 successfully launched 239 payloads into space over 117 missions.
Ariane 6, the planned successor to Ariane 5, has faced technical delays and is not expected to launch until late 2023 at the earliest.
Europe has turned to SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to fill the gap in access to space left by Ariane 5's retirement.