The inaugural flight of the European Ariane 6 rocket, which should re-establish Europe’s independent access to space, will take place from Kourou on July 9, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Wednesday.
“I am happy to announce that the first launch attempt will take place on July 9. Ariane 6 marks a new era of autonomous and versatile space travel in Europe,” ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in a press release at the Berlin Air Show.
Ariane 6 “is the culmination of many years of determination and ingenuity on the part of thousands of people across Europe, and it will restore Europe’s independent access to space,” he continued.
Initially planned for 2020, the first flight of Ariane 6 has been postponed numerous times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and development difficulties.
Europe has been deprived of its own access to space since the final flight of the Ariane 5 heavy launcher in July 2023 and the failure of the first commercial flight of the new Italian Vega-C rocket in 2022.
Designed to face competition from the American launcher Space
Ariane 6 already has 30 missions in its order book, said Stéphane Israel, executive president of Arianespace.
The launch campaign started in April at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in Kourou in French Guiana, where the central body of the first Ariane 6 was installed on the ELA4 launch pad.
“The last major step before launch will be the dress rehearsal,” detailed the ESA.
