Bermuda is back on the map as a contributor to space exploration, with the European Space Agency (ESA) station at Cooper’s Island declared a success after the launch of a Soyuz rocket from South America.The mission, which has revived Bermuda’s decades-old role as an ideal location for space tracking, was not without controversy.Shortly after the announcement, Reuters reported that the Russian-built Soyuz rocket carried “a payload of mostly spysatellites for France”.The news agency said five of the six satellites successfully positioned in orbit following the December 16 launch were to be used by the French Ministry of Defence.As well as Bermuda, stations in India, South Korea, Australia and Canada assisted in the Soyuz take-off from the ESA’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.The French territory lies close to the equator on the South American coast.Michel Starozinski of the French space agency called Bermuda “an ideal location to track ESA launch vehicles heading north after lift-off”.The New Stations Project Manager said: “We always need a downrange tracking station after the loss of the signal by the Kourou station in Guiana, which occurs about 1,800km away from the launch pad.“When we launch to the North, what is the only island after the West Indies between South and North America? Bermuda.”Technicians are to dismantle the mobile station next week, but under last year’s agreement between Government and the ESA, it can be rolled out again for future launches.Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Marc Bean said he believed the success would pave the way for “many similar launches to come”.“I am extremely pleased that we could be of assistance to our friends at ESA while, at the same time, being mindful of the sensitive environment we safeguard at Cooper’s Island through the requirement that the tracking station be temporary in nature,” the Minister added.Mr Bean said Government would continue to work with the ESA to find projects of common interest, particularly “the promotion of educational opportunities for students”.The Soyuz take-off marks the second time that a Russian rocket has flown from Kourou. Preparations for the launch have been underway since September.At more than four and a half hours, the mission was described as lengthy by European authorities. Bermuda and other stations collected radio-transmitted data describing the rocket’s trajectory and performance.According to Mr Starozinski: “Bermuda was one of the main stations during this launch, as it was from there that we saw the first ignition of the upper stage of the launcher after its separation and the entire boost of the engine until its shutdown about four minutes later.”Nine minutes after take-off, the Cooper’s Island station tracked the rocket’s first pass, from the Southwest on the horizon to the Northeast, at the level of the St David’s Lighthouse.It also tracked a second pass, from the Southeast to the Northeast, about 90 minutes later.A modest-sized facility, Bermuda’s tracking station comprises a 4.5 meter parabolic antenna with transport container, a technical shelter for electronic equipment, including a no-break power system, and a power shelter housing two generators and a fuel tank.It takes a few workers roughly a week to install. Two technicians are to come to Bermuda to dismantle it.The Soyuz launch marked a comeback for Bermuda, 50 years after the Island first became host to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).NASA ran a tracking station on Cooper’s Island from 1961 until its closure in 1999.