King Philippe of Belgium flew to Guyana on April 11, 2023. With his eldest, Prince Gabriel, he will attend the next launch of the Ariane 5 rocket, in Kourou. It will be a question of sending the JUICE satellite into orbit, towards Jupiter and its icy moons.
A king in Kourou. King Philippe flew on April 11, in the morning, from Belgium to Guyana. He will attend, Thursday, April 13, the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center. The king will be accompanied by Prince Gabriel, his eldest son aged 19. This is the first time the latter has taken part in an official visit.
The sovereign is passionate regarding astronomy, indicate our Belgian colleagues from RTBF. The member of royalty will not be at his first rocket launch. He might stay in Guyana until Friday April 14. He will be accompanied by Secretary of State for Science Policy in BelgiumThomas Dermine.
King Philippe and his son will also be able to meet with the Belgian members of the European Space Agency and with Belgian representatives of companies involved in the JUICE mission. Indeed, the Institute of Space Aeronomy of Belgium (IASB), the Royal Observatory of Belgium or the Star Institute of ULiège participated in the project.
The JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) satellite will be sent from Kourou as part ofa European Space Agency (ESA) exploration mission to study Jupiter and its three largest moons : Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
