Europe’s Access to Space French Guiana’s Sovereignty, Security and Fragility

It is a moonless night in Kourou, French Guiana. Here, on the northern fringe of the Amazon, Atlantic coastal savannah gives way to the rainforest of the ancient Guiana Shield. The humid air is heavy, filled with the steady drone of cicadas and crickets, the croaking of frogs and the constant buzz of mosquitoes. Occasionally, the haunting cries of howler monkeys echo in the darkness, mingling with the mournful whistle of nocturnal common potoos and the hoots of owls.