A popular-science book on the course of an Ariane rocket launch from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. Written by an engineer of the base and illustrated by Pascal Richet, it follows a launch campaign in chronological order: payload preparation in the clean room, stage assembly, propellant filling, countdown and lift-off, then radar tracking and telemetry. More technical sections cover the Viking and HM7 engines, Kepler's laws, the calculation of the geostationary orbit, and the forthcoming Ariane 4 and Ariane 5 configurations. The chapter titles are given in Guianese Creole, translated into French.