2023-11-30 18:37:06
Ariane 6, on its launch pad in Kourou, Guyana, during tests simulating a full flight, on November 23. Esa CNES Ariane Group
The European Space Agency plans to carry out the first launch of the new heavy launcher between June 15 and July 31. This crucial mission must give Europe independent access to space again.
Still many months to wait before the takeoff of the very first Ariane 6, successor to the European Ariane 5 rocket. « The firing window for the inaugural flight is set between the 15 June and 31 July 2024 », announced this Thursday, Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA). This first shot is crucial: it must make it possible to qualify the new European heavy launcher and give Europe back independent access to space, of which it has been deprived since June 2023, with the takeoff of the last Ariane 5 and the unavailability of Vega C, new version of the small Italian rocket, until the end of 2024 (after the failure of its first commercial flight at the end of 2022).
This announcement, the result of a joint decision by ESA, Cnes and ArianeGroup, the rocket manufacturer, is a relief. Ariane 6 is in fact four years behind schedule. Josef Aschbacher also believes that November 30 is « a great day for space Europe
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