NASA. Arianespace. The Spaceport – also known as the Guiana Space Center – is a strategically-located facility that provides optimum operating conditions for Arianespace's commercial launches.
Situated in French Guiana, the Spaceport's location close to the equator at 5.3 deg. North latitude makes it ideally-situated for missions into geostationary orbit. Launching near the equator reduces the energy required for orbit plane change maneuvers. This saves fuel, enabling an increased operational lifetime for Ariane satellite payloads – and, in turn, an improved return on investment for the spacecraft operators. EADS.