Amazon backs Ariane with rocket launch orders as Europe battles to close its space gap 

Amazon has ordered six additional launches from Europe's Arianespace as it builds out a satellite network to challenge SpaceX's Starlink, handing the continent's space industry a major commercial boost as governments push for greater sovereign capabilities.The Amazon Leo order, announced Wednesday at the International Space Summit in Paris, takes the total number of launches booked with Arianespace to 24. The company's owner, ArianeGroup is a joint venture between Airbus and Safran.Long-term commitments from companies like Amazon provide Europe with the capabilities needed to deploy critical space infrastructure, Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès said in a statement Wednesday.The deal comes as European governments increase spending on sovereign space capabilities and private companies, including German rocket maker Isar Aerospace and spacecraft startup The Exploration Company, raise hundreds of millions of euros to scale their businesses.But the summit also exposed some of the political divisions complicating those ambitions.The event was co-hosted by France and Germany, but German Chancellor Friedrich Merz did not attend, nor did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.Meanwhile, U....