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The inaugural flight of Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre, with two Galileo navigation system satellites, on 21 October 2011. In this ongoing ESA programme, Soyuz-ST launch vehicles are operated from Guiana Space Centre, providing Arianespace with a medium-size launch capability alternative to the light Vega and the heavy-lift Ariane 5. Since 2011, the programme has completed 18 missions, with another three scheduled for 2018.Photograph: DLR German Aerospace Center