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France’s Macron Awards Legion of Honor to Ukraine’s Zelenskiy

08 February 2023, France, Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron (L) receives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Elysee Palace on the eve of the European summit in Brussels. (dpa)
08 February 2023, France, Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron (L) receives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Elysee Palace on the eve of the European summit in Brussels. (dpa)
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France’s Macron Awards Legion of Honor to Ukraine’s Zelenskiy

08 February 2023, France, Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron (L) receives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Elysee Palace on the eve of the European summit in Brussels. (dpa)
08 February 2023, France, Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron (L) receives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Elysee Palace on the eve of the European summit in Brussels. (dpa)

President Emmanuel Macron has bestowed the Legion of Honor on Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a visit to Paris.

It is the highest award a French president can give to a counterpart, the Elysee Palace said in an overnight statement.

"A salute to Ukraine and its people. A salute to you, dear Volodymyr, for your courage and commitment," Macron wrote on social media.

Zelenskiy told Macron and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz late on Wednesday that they had the opportunity to be "game changers" in the war against Russia by not hesitating in delivering heavy weapons and modern fighter jets to Ukraine.

A video posted by the Elysee presidential palace showed Macron handing the medal to Zelenskiy, dressed in his trademark khaki attire, in an opulent room. The two men shared a warm embrace and held hands as Zelenskiy responded to Macron.

"I said to the president, I said I think it's too much for me, and that's why I address it (the decoration) of course for all of our people, the Ukrainians, for our society. And a great honor to be here," Zelenskiy is heard telling those in the room.

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Varieties

Private European Aerospace Startup Completes 1st Test Flight of Orbital Launch Vehicle

In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)
In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)
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Private European Aerospace Startup Completes 1st Test Flight of Orbital Launch Vehicle

In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)
In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)

A rocket by a private European aerospace company launched from Norway on Sunday and crashed into the sea 30 seconds later.
Despite the short test flight, Isar Aerospace said that it successfully completed the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle by launching its Spectrum rocket from the island of Andøya in northern Norway.
The 28-meter-long (92-foot-long) Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle specifically designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit. The rocket lifted off from the pad at 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) Sunday and flew for about a half-minute before the flight was terminated, The Associated Press quoted Isar as saying.
“This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions,” Isar said in a statement. “After the flight was terminated at T+30 seconds, the launch vehicle fell into the sea in a controlled manner.”
Video from the launch shows the rocket taking off from the pad, flying into the air and then coming back down to crash into the sea in a fiery explosion.
The launch was subject to various factors, including weather and safety, and Sunday's liftoff followed a week of poor conditions, including a scrubbed launch on March 24 because of unfavorable winds, and on Saturday for weather restrictions.
“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,” Daniel Metzler, Isar’s chief executive and co-founder, said in the statement. “We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System.”
The company had largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight, saying that it would consider a 30-second flight a success. Isar Aerospace aims to collect as much data and experience as possible on the first integrated test of all the systems on its in-house-developed launch vehicle.
Isar Aerospace is separate from the European Space Agency, or ESA, which is funded by its 23 member states.
“Success to get off the pad, and lots of data already obtained. I am sure @isaraerospace will learn a lot," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher posted on X. "Rocket launch is hard. Never give up, move forward with even more energy!”