Ariane-6 is nearing its first launch

If all goes well by summer, the four-year delay for the Ariane-6 program will soon be nothing more than a bad memory. The European rocket, which has suffered setbacks since the project’s launch in 2014, should make its maiden flight between mid-June and July 31, as announced in December 2023. “The firing window has not changed,” Martin Sion, executive president of ArianeGroup, confirmed Thursday March 7 before the Association of Professional Aeronautics and Space Journalists.

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“For six months, together with teams from the European Space Agency and the National Center for Space Studies, we gradually took control of the planning.” He clarified. The setback occurred during the design of the rocket due to the lack of detailed technical initial design, which was linked to the lack of transmission of knowledge. “Between the start of the Ariane-5 project in 1988 and Ariane-6, twenty-six years passed,” Remembered Mr. Sion. The skill had to be retrained. Added to this were two years of Covid-19, all against a backdrop of tensions between the French and Germans, the two main contributors to the project, at respective levels of 55.3% and 22%.

Three weeks ago, the two launch stages were transferred by boat to the Guiana Space Center in Kourou and are being assembled. The rocket will then be taken to its launch pad. A qualification review will then begin to verify each component. The date of his flight will depend on his result.

Nine annual launches

Commercial launch will begin six months after the first flight. Europe will then gain access to space which it has been deprived of since October 2023. The increase in power will be gradual, reaching a rate of nine launches per year, four of which will be reserved for European states for their institutional needs. , military or scientific. With this commitment and in return for financial support of 340 million euros, the states sought to reduce costs. ArianeGroup has committed to an 11% reduction.

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With a target of nine annual launches, Ariane-6 will be far behind the hundred Falcon 9s launched by SpaceX. “It’s not comparable,” Martin underlines the sion. Elon Musk’s rockets are mainly used to put the thousands of satellites of his Starlink constellation into orbit, while European launches mainly suit the needs of states, and then “Capture a business market share”

, he explains. 28 orders have already been received, indicating that this market needs launchers and not just one.