After the wet rehearsal on the launch pad in French Guiana, Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket is on track for its inaugural launch.
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced during a press conference on June 25 that the rehearsal was a “great success”. After years of delays, ESA is confident that their Ariane 6 rocketconsidered the future of European launch capability satellites go inside Soil job, will finally get off the ground. ESA and French launch provider Ariane spacewhich commercially operates the rocket, are preparing for a July 9 launch. The three-hour window starts at 2:00 PM EDT (6:00 PM GMT).
“Of course we are still analyzing the data – it may take a few more days. But everything we have so far says that our baby Ariane 6 is working perfectly,” said Lucia Linares, head of strategy and institutional launches at ESA. .
The rehearsal took place on June 20. Operators first allowed the 90-meter-long rocket to stand freely on the platform, without support from the gantry, for the first time time ever. They then cooled the rocket to cryogenic temperatures and pumped it with fuel, performing system checks all the while, before completely draining it in preparation for the actual launch. ESA will release detailed results of the test later this week, but so far Ariane 6 appears to be functioning as planned, mission managers said.
“All the verifications carried out did not indicate any abnormal behavior,” said Michel Bonnet, ESA director for the Ariane 6 maiden flight. “So on that basis we still have a lot of confidence in the future [July 9] launch date.”
Related: Finally: Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket will debut on July 9
The flight plan from the inaugural launch Ariane 6 to low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 320 miles (520 kilometers). This launch won’t just be a test flight – once the rocket is in orbit, it will nine cubesatsAlso on board the Vinci upper stage of Ariane 6 are four non-orbital experiments, including a machine which will test a system for quickly locating satellites and two capsules which will drop from orbit around the Pacific Ocean to test their re-entry the Earth’s atmosphere successfully.
However, Vinci will burn out. The upper stage can be refired multiple times in orbit, allowing a single launch to deploy multiple satellites at different altitudes – and, as planned for this first flight – deorbit the spacecraft and prevent it from flying indefinitely when debris floats or falls down. Earth uncontrolled.
The stakes for Europe’s launch capabilities are high. Ariane 6 is intended to replace the venerable Ariane 5, which left for the last time last year after 117 launches and 27 years of service. Since then, European launches have been dependent on other – largely American – vehicles.
In these final days before launch, ESA and its partners would like to emphasize their dissatisfaction with the post-Ariane 5 status quo – and the possibility for Ariane 6 to change it if it is successful. “It is an important moment in European space history and for Europe’s sovereignty,” said Carina Laveau, director of space at CNES, the French national space agency.
The Ariane 6 will be launched about nine to twelve times a year by 2026. Even before the vehicle’s maiden flight, both national space agencies and private companies have already booked 30 missions. Its most prominent customer is Amazon, which has ordered 18 launches so far ahead of its planned launch Cooper satellite constellation.
This first launch was originally planned for 2020, but a series of technical issues – coupled with disruptions from both COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine — have caused repeated delays. The failure of Europe’s fellow Vega C rocket at the end of 2022 has only raised the stakes for ESA when it comes to this new rocket.
Nevertheless, Ariane 6 officials expressed optimism that all the problems are finally behind us. “We are ready for launch,” Linares said.