Eumetsat, the operator of European weather satellites, canceled the launch of its MTG-S1 satellite by the Ariane 6 rocket in favor of the American SpaceX, a disappointment for the European launcher less than two weeks before its inaugural flight, reports “The world”.
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Contacted by AFP on Friday, Eumetsat could not be immediately reached, while Arianespace, the company responsible for operating and marketing Ariane 6, did not comment.
According to “Le Monde”, the Eumetsat executive committee has asked the board of directors representing the 30 member states to choose SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, cancelling the contract signed with Arianespace four years ago.
The MTG-S1 satellite was due to embark on the third Ariane 6 flight in early 2025. The reasons that pushed Eumetsat to change tack and choose the American rocket are not specified.
Ariane 6 is due to make its maiden flight from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou on 9 July, four years behind schedule.
Reacting on LinkedIn, the CEO of CNES, the French space agency, Philippe Baptiste, deplored “a sudden change, because the flight was to take place very soon” and “a very disappointing day for space Europe”.
“I look forward to understanding the reasons that could have led Eumetsat to such a decision, at a time when all the major European space countries and the European Commission are calling for European satellites to be launched on European launchers,” he said.
“How far will we go, we Europeans, in our naivety?” further criticizes Philippe Baptiste, who calls on the European Commission to take “the necessary measures so that all European institutional satellites are launched on small and large European launchers”.
Before this disappointment, Ariane 6, whose planned rate is 9 launches per year, had 30 flights in its order book. It must give Europe independent access to space again in the face of the juggernaut SpaceX which plans 144 Falcon 9 launches this year.
