Ariane 5

An Ariane 5 rolls out of its assembly building toward the ELA-3 launch zone at Europe's Spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana, on December 23, 2021, with the James Webb Space Telescope folded inside its nose. Two days later, on December 25, it launched Webb. Europe's heavy lifter flew for 27 years and finished with 112 fully successful missions in 117 flights, the last in July 2023. Webb is the payload most people will remember, and this frame shows the rocket at the very start of that trip.