{"id":785100,"date":"2024-07-02T05:07:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T10:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=785100"},"modified":"2024-07-02T05:07:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T10:07:55","slug":"europes-ariane-6-rocket-finally-ready-for-liftoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=785100","title":{"rendered":"Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket finally ready for liftoff"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n A dress rehearsal for the Ariane 6 rocket, which will launch for the first time on July 9.
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Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket is set for its first-ever launch next week, carrying with it the continent’s hopes of regaining independent access to space and fending off soaring competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.<\/p>\n

After four years of delays, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) most powerful rocket yet is finally due to blast off from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:00 pm (1800 GMT) on July 9.<\/p>\n

Since the last flight of the rocket’s workhorse predecessor, Ariane 5, a year ago, Europe has been unable to launch satellites or other missions into space without relying on rivals such as the US firm SpaceX.<\/p>\n

Kourou was the site of launches by Russia’s Soyuz rockets for more than a decade, before Moscow withdrew them after invading Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n

Later that year, Europe’s Vega-C light launcher was grounded after a launch failure. Delays to Ariane 6’s first flight\u2014originally scheduled for 2020\u2014compounded the crisis.<\/p>\n

“Everything that could go wrong went wrong,” ESA chief Josef Aschbacher said.<\/p>\n

That is why “Ariane 6 is crucial for Europe,” he added. “It’s absolutely mandatory for Europe to have an independent access to space.”<\/p>\n

After the struggles of the 4.5-billion-euro ($4.8 billion) program, Europe’s space industry has been nervously observing the run-up to the launch.<\/p>\n

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\n The European Space Agency’s most powerful rocket yet is scheduled to finally blast off from Europe’s spaceport in the French Guianan town of Kourou.
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A “wet dress rehearsal” late last month ran through all the launch procedures, right up to the moment before the engines ignite on the launchpad.<\/p>\n

It went “very smoothly… like a Swiss watch,” ESA space transportation acting director Toni Tolker-Nielsen said, adding that there was nothing to call the launch date into question.<\/p>\n

‘Important moment’<\/h2>\n

Ariane 6 will put satellites into geostationary orbit, which appears stationary by matching Earth’s speed at 36,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) above Earth. It can also launch constellations a few hundred kilometers up.<\/p>\n

The rocket’s upper stage, powered by the Vinci engine, ignites after take-off to place satellites in orbit before falling into the Pacific Ocean\u2014a special feature to prevent space debris.<\/p>\n

Ariane 6’s first launch will use two boosters, with a more powerful four-booster version scheduled for liftoff in the middle of next year.<\/p>\n

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\n Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket.
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However, the boosters and other parts of the rocket are not reusable\u2014unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n

Billionaire Musk has repeatedly criticized Ariane 6 for not being reusable.<\/p>\n

The European response has been that it would not make economic sense for the rocket to be reusable because it was designed for far fewer launches than the Falcon 9.<\/p>\n

The rocket will initially carry out nine launches a year\u2014a far cry from the Falcon 9, which managed 14 in May alone.<\/p>\n

The rocket’s inaugural flight will carry 18 different smaller items, including university micro-satellites and scientific experiments.<\/p>\n

Its first commercial flight is scheduled for later in 2024, with 14 more planned over the next two years.<\/p>\n

Shock late cancellation<\/h2>\n

One positive for Ariane 6 is that space business is booming.<\/p>\n

The amount spent on launchers, satellites and other parts of the space economy is projected to surge to $822 billion by 2032, up from $508 billion last year, according to consulting firm Novaspace.<\/p>\n

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\n Ariane 6 crosses the Atlantic in a boat from Europe to French Guiana.
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But this has not yet been enough to make Ariane 6 profitable.<\/p>\n

The financing for the first 15 launches has been secured.<\/p>\n

But the ESA’s 22 member states have agreed to subsidize the rocket for up to 340 million euros a year from its 16th to 42nd flights\u2014in return for an 11 percent discount.<\/p>\n

Ariane 6 already has an order book of 30 missions, including 18 to deploy some of Amazon’s Kuiper constellation of internet satellites.<\/p>\n

“That is absolutely unprecedented for a rocket that has not flown,” said Stephane Israel, CEO of launch service provider Arianespace.<\/p>\n

However, just days before the inaugural flight, Europe’s weather satellite operator EUMETSAT cancelled plans to use the European Ariane 6 in favor of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, citing “exceptional circumstances”.<\/p>\n

Philippe Baptiste, head of France’s CNES space agency, called it “a very disappointing day for European space efforts”.<\/p>\n