This image shows the European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 satellite rocket lifting off from the launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on July 9, 2024.
Jody Amiet | AFP | Getty Images
The powerful European-built Ariane 6 rocket made its long-awaited launch on Tuesday as the region returns to the launch market due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX Company.
The Ariane 6, more than 200 feet tall and powered by Vulcain engines and a pair of boosters, launched from Kourou in French Guiana at 3 p.m. ET and later successfully entered orbit.
The rocket is a joint effort worth about $4.5 billion overseen by the European Space Agency (ESA) and built by ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran. Thirteen countries contribute to the Ariane 6 program.
This image shows the European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 satellite rocket lifting off from the launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on July 9, 2024.
Jody Amiet | AFP | Getty Images
It is the latest in a line of European rockets dating back to the 1970s and the successor to the Ariane 5, which had 117 launches before it was retired last year. The Ariane 6 comes in two versions: the Ariane 62, which has two solid rocket boosters that can carry up to 10,000 kg of cargo into low Earth orbit (LEO), and the Ariane 64, a model with four solid-fuel rockets that can carry up to 21,000 kg to LEO.
In the launch market, Ariane 6 falls into heavy missile class.
The maiden flight of Ariane 6 is a demonstration mission for ESA and will carry a number of small satellites and spacecraft. After liftoff, the flight will last nearly three hours before deploying 11 spacecraft and will also include a series of crucial tests of the rocket’s upper stage engines.
Delayed launch
The European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 satellite carrier rocket is seen before its maiden launch at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on July 9, 2024.
Jody Amiet | AFP | Getty Images
The Ariane 6’s maiden voyage was delayed for years due to technical problems, the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.
After the full-scale invasion of neighboring Russia suspend all European launches above it Soyuz rocket. A smaller European replacement, the Vega-C, has been grounded since a failed launch in 2022 and is not expected to fly again until later this year at the earliest.
Despite rising costs and long delays, European leaders continue to support the Ariane 6 program, stressing the importance of the continent having its own access to space, rather than relying on SpaceX.
But Europe has had to turn to SpaceX many times out of necessity. The company has a near monopoly on the global launch market..
The European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 satellite carrier rocket moves to the launch pad before liftoff at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on July 9, 2024.
Jody Amiet | AFP | Getty Images
SpaceX’s reusable and relatively low-cost Falcon 9 rocket offers an attractive alternative to spacecraft waiting for the Ariane 6 to begin flying. Prominent ESA missions such as the EarthCARE spacecraft, the Euclid telescope and the Galileo satellite have been launched on SpaceX rockets.
Last month, the European weather satellite operator EUMETSAT has made an “exceptional” decision. to swap its upcoming satellite launch plan from the Ariane 6 to the Falcon 9, a choice that has been ridiculed by many other European officials.
“I am anxiously waiting to understand what led Eumetsat to take such a decision,” Philippe Baptiste, head of France’s CNES space agency, wrote in a post. parcel on social media.
“How far will we, Europeans, go with our naivety?” Baptiste added.
It is noteworthy that while most US companies are looking to challenge SpaceX With its move toward reusable rocket technology, the Ariane 6 could be used once, similar to its predecessor — meaning each spacecraft is a unique craft that is discarded after its mission is complete.
It’s not just Europe’s desire for its own access to space that’s driving the Ariane 6. Rocket There is another important client waiting to be launched: Amazon. The American technology giant has ordered the launch of 97 missiles from five companiesNearly a fifth of that was won by Arianespace to launch Project Kuiper internet satellites on Ariane 6.
