Ariane 5, a French Challenge

Each launch of the Ariane 5 rocket is a high-risk adventure and a 500 million euro bet. The concentration is maximum because each step is essential and follows a very precise chronology. Around Ariane 5, the launcher of the European Space Agency (ESA), a whole world reveals itself: armed forces on the ground and in the air, an industrial network of 550 companies in 12 European countries, buried bunkers and secrets to which few people have access.