The first launch of the European Ariane 6 rocket is planned between June 15 and July 31, 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Thursday.
“It is a good day for space travel in Europe,” said ESA Director Josef Aschbacher at a press conference and announced this date for the first flight of the future European heavy-lift rocket, which was originally planned for 2020.
The decision follows what Mr Aschbacher said was the “complete success” of a critical test carried out in Kourou on November 23rd. It consisted of firing the Vulcain 2.1 engine, which powers the launch vehicle’s main stage, for the entire duration of a mission.
According to Aschbacher, the final launch date is expected to be announced in March or April 2024.
The president of the CNES, Philippe Baptiste, explained that a “general qualification test” of the launch vehicle will make it possible to set an exact launch date. This review is ongoing and is expected to be completed around April.
The green light for the first launch is the result of a joint decision by ESA, ArianeGroup – manufacturer of the launch vehicle – and CNES (National Center for Space Studies), which provides the infrastructure for the Guyanese spaceport from Kourou.
The first flight of Ariane 6, which was originally planned for 2020 and was designed to compete with the American Space X launch vehicle, was postponed several times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and development difficulties.
The launch vehicle will have to undergo two more tests to verify its operability in so-called “degraded” conditions: on December 7th with a test of the upper stage re-ignitable Vinci engine and on December 15th with a filling test of all stages Kourou.
The aim of these tests is to “verify whether the reliability and robustness of the (launch vehicle) design meets expectations,” said Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup.
Josef Aschbacher was pleased that “the technical problems have stabilized and so has the schedule.”