Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider.

[3] Prior to the ESA's formation, France had been lobbying for the development of a new European expendable launch system to serve as a replacement for the Europa rocket.

Other major companies involved included the French firms Air Liquide and Matra, Swedish manufacturer Volvo, and German aircraft producer Dornier Flugzeugwerke.

[15] For the V50 launch onwards, an improved third stage, known as the H10+, was adopted for the Ariane 4, which raised the rocket's overall payload capacity by 110 kg and increased its burn time by 20 seconds.

[17] In January 1985, the Ariane 5 was officially adopted as an ESA programme, and began an eleven-year development and test program to the first launch in 1996.

[21][22] During March 2003, contracts for Vega's development were signed by the ESA and CNES; Italy provided 65 per cent of funding while six additional nations contributed the remainder.

[23] In May 2004, it was reported that a contract was signed between commercial operator Arianespace and prime contractor ELV to perform vehicle integration at Kourou, French Guiana.

[25][26] Since entering commercial service, Arianespace markets Vega as a launch system tailored for missions to polar and Sun-synchronous orbits.

[33][34] On 21 January 2019, ArianeGroup and Arianespace announced that it had signed a one-year contract with the ESA to study and prepare for a mission to the Moon to mine regolith.

[44] In 2015, Arianespace shareholding was restructured due to the creation of Airbus Safran Launchers (later renamed ArianeGroup), which is tasked with developing and manufacturing the Ariane 6 carrier rocket.

[40][47] According to Arianespace's managing director: "It's quite clear there's a very significant challenge coming from SpaceX (...) therefore things have to change (...) and the whole European industry is being restructured, consolidated, rationalised and streamlined.

"[48] During early 2014, Arianespace was considering requesting additional subsidies from European governments to face competition from SpaceX and unfavorable changes in the Euro-Dollar exchange rate.

[49] SpaceX had reportedly begun to take market share from Arianespace,[41] Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen, a major customer of Arianespace, stated that: "Each year that passes will see SpaceX advance, gain market share and further reduce its costs through economies of scale.

"[41] By September 2014, Arianespace had reportedly to sign four additional contracts for lower slots on an Ariane 5 SYLDA dispenser for satellites that otherwise could be flown on a SpaceX launch vehicle; this was claimed to have been allowed via cost reductions; it had signed a total of 11 contracts by that point, while two additional ones that were under advanced negotiations.