The Ariane 6 test model has started to be dismantled to make way for the first flight model. Here the upper composite that includes the payloads and the fairing – a rocket nose cone that splits vertically in two – is being moved back to the final assembly building at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The test model stood 62 m high, the same height as the ‘production model’ Ariane 6 rockets that will soon be launched. On the test model, the boosters do not need to be tested as part of the complete rocket, so they are not fuelled.
To make way for launch, teams from ArianeGroup, France’s space agency CNES and ESA have started to remove the Ariane 6 test model. The upper composite was removed on 9 February 2024, this includes the nosecone that splits vertically in two and the dummy payloads underneath. They have been returned to the Encapsulation Hall that is part of the Batiment Assemblage Finale. The test model will be further disassembled by removing the boosters and returning the central core to the Batiment d’Assemblage Lanceur. The test model was first seen in full in June 2023 with many tests and rehearsals having been completed since then, including successful hot-fire tests of its main stage, structure tests and fuelling rehearsals in different scenarios, including degraded scenarios for testing the most severe conditions that could occur in operations.