Currently inactive, the complex was first used in October 2011 in support of the Soyuz-ST rocket and the Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre programme.

[2] The site's equatorial latitude allows a greater payload mass to be delivered into geosynchronous transfer orbit compared to existing Soyuz launch facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

[3] The tower shrouds the rocket during integration, but is moved back to a safe distance (again on rails) prior to launch.

ELS also differs in having a fixed launch mount, rather than one which can be rotated,[4] meaning that the rocket may need to execute a roll manoeuvre during its ascent to orbit.

[5] On 26 February 2022, Roscosmos announced that it was suspending operations at ELS as a reaction to International Sanctions following the Russo-Ukrainian War.