Ariane 6 delays its first commercial flight, what's the problem?

We will not see the Ariane 6 rocket again in 2024, we have just learned from Arianespace, which has chosen to postpone the second flight of the European launcher since its inaugural flight last July. In December, the rocket was to carry out a flight which would be the first of a commercial nature, with the aim of putting the CSO-3 spy satellite into orbit on behalf of the French Army.

First presented for the fourth quarter, then for the month of December more precisely, the second Ariane 6 flight will ultimately not be scheduled before the end of February 2025, to carry out additional checks and adjustments. A response most certainly to the fault encountered on the first flight, when the upper stage was unable to restart its engine for its deorbit process.

With this delay caused to correct Ariane 6 and not compromise its future launches, the main stage and the upper stage have not yet left the Arianespace production lines, located respectively in France and Germany. They will then be transported to French Guiana, to reach the firing point located next to Kourou.

The 2025 calendar for Ariane 6, and 2026 for Ariane 64

By missing its December slot, the first commercial flight of Ariane 6 could also compromise the schedule of other flights planned for 2025. For example, the European launcher must, that year, carry out six other launches. Arianespace says it is confident that their dates will hold, but it should be noted that eight launches were still mentioned last summer.

Three concerned launches on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) for European GPS Galileo satellites, but also for private clients such as Intelsat, Optus, Skyloom, and Hellas Sat. In the future, the annual launch rate for Ariane 6 should reach 10 to 12 launches. This would therefore correspond to one launch per month on average.

An important launch planned is also that of Ariane 64, the four-booster configuration of the European launcher. Arianespace won a contract last year with Intelsat for the sending of a geostationary satellite, which will therefore have to take place in an orbit located at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, much higher than that of the satellites located in the orbit low, less than 1,000 kilometers from Earth.

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