It’s becoming clearer. “The first attempt will take place during the first two weeks of July,” announced the European Space Agency (ESA) on May 21. Read, the first attempt to take off the very first Ariane 6 rocket, on its launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou. At the end of November 2023, the ESA had risked a forecast cautiously spread over a period which ran from June 15 to July 31. As…
It’s becoming clearer. “The first attempt will take place during the first two weeks of July,” announced the European Space Agency (ESA) on May 21. Read, the first attempt to take off the very first Ariane 6 rocket, on its launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou. At the end of November 2023, the ESA had risked a forecast cautiously spread over a period which ran from June 15 to July 31. As usual, the more the weeks go by, the more we reduce the window. For the communication of a launch date, you will have to wait until the Berlin Air Show, in Germany, which will be held from June 5 to 9. It will not be firm or definitive. Depending on technical and weather conditions, it may move. But forward gear is well and truly engaged.
In the three Gironde establishments of ArianeGroup, we are following the matter carefully. In Saint-Médard-en-Jalles and Haillan, essential parts of the new launcher are manufactured. The “skirt”, an element which equips the rocket’s auxiliary propellants, its side “boosters”. And the nozzle, the exhaust pipe which channels the combustion gases from these boosters, raised to 3,300°C at takeoff.
For the thousands of Gironde employees of the manufacturer, prime contractor of Ariane 6, the countdown is ticking slowly, very slowly. It is with a delay estimated at four years that the rocket should be sent into space this summer. Covid-19 and technical difficulties explain this substantial delay, which has left Europe very destitute. Since the firing of the last copy of Ariane 5, in July 2023, the 22 member states of the ESA no longer have any heavy launcher in store. On the shelf of light launchers, it is not much more provided. Vega-C, the advanced version of the Italian Vega rocket, is grounded after the failure of its first commercial flight eighteen months ago.
Crucial for Europe’s credibility
Suffice it to say that the inaugural launch of Ariane 6 is crucial for the industrial and commercial credibility of Europe in space. The game will not be easy. It is estimated that one in two rockets ends up on the ground on their first attempt. The ESA, ArianeGroup, CNES (the owner of the Kourou launch base) and Arianespace (the company which markets the flights) believe they have put all the chances on their side. Last November, a sensitive stage took place without a hitch: the successful firing of the Vulcain 2.1 engine of the main stage and its operation for eight minutes in Kourou.
Space: from Ariane 5 to Ariane 6, the countdown is on
At the Guiana Space Center, Ariane 5 has just inaugurated its last series of flights before the handover to Ariane 6, the new more powerful and less expensive European launcher. The inaugural shot is planned for 2023. The challenge is significant in a hypercompetitive market. Report in Kourou.
Installed at the end of April on the launch pad, the central body of the rocket and its two side boosters still have to overcome a few milestones. A “qualification review” of the launcher is scheduled to end in mid-June, which is a careful examination of the vehicle and its launch system. Next month, its payloads and fairing will also be adapted to the top of the rocket. The launcher will carry eleven distinct elements, mini-satellites and scientific experiments. If all goes well.
