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European Space Agency’s new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, made its inaugural flight from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana yesterday. The latest-generation Ariane rocket takes over from Ariane 5, and features a modular and versatile design that can launch missions from Low-Earth Orbit and farther out into deep space.
ESA's director general Josef Aschbacher said: “A completely new rocket is not launched very often, and success is far from guaranteed. I am privileged to have witnessed this historic moment when Europe's new generation of the Ariane family lifted off – successfully – effectively reinstating European access to space.
“The first launch is a huge undertaking from thousands of people who have worked relentlessly for years. To see it perform wonderfully at the first attempt is testament to their dedication and a demonstration of European excellence in engineering and technology. Heartfelt thanks go to the teams at ESA, CNES, ArianeGroup and Arianespace for their hard work to get to this point.”
This inaugural flight, designated VA262, is a demonstration flight whose aim is to show the capabilities and prowess of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space. Nevertheless, it had several passengers on board.
One hour after lift-off, the first set of satellites on board Ariane 6 were released from the upper stage and placed into an orbit 600km above Earth. Satellites and experiments from various space agencies, companies, research institutes, universities and young professionals were included in the payload.
In addition to the rocket, the lift-off demonstrated the functioning of the launch pad and operations on the ground at Europe’s spaceport. The new custom-built dedicated launch zone was built by France’s space agency CNES and allows for a faster turnover of Ariane launches.
Philippe Baptiste, CEO of CNES, said: “With this first successful launch by Ariane 6, Europe has finally recovered its capacity to access space. Beyond the great emotion I am feeling right now, my first thoughts are for all the teams in Kourou, Paris, Vernon, Les Mureaux, Toulouse, Bremen, Lampoldshausen, Liège, Barcelona, Colleferro, Zürich and everywhere else in Europe that made this success possible. I would like to acknowledge the commitment of the employees of CNES, ESA, ArianeGroup, Arianespace and our sub-contractors. The last few months have been intense, and I would like to thank them all. Europe can be proud of its space programme and of its knowledge and expertise.”
Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup which designed and built the rocket, said: “This historic launch demonstrates the unfailing commitment of our teams and partners, whom I would like to thank warmly for this success, which reflects on the entire European industry. Seeing Europe’s new launcher lift off into space marks the culmination of an outstanding technical and technological adventure, and the beginning of a long history of Ariane 6 operations. The next flight models are already in production and the stages of the second model will be shipped to the Guiana Space Centre this autumn for the first commercial flight of Ariane 6.”
With the placement of satellites into orbit, Ariane 6 has demonstrated that it can successfully launch its payloads into space, but ground control had more in store for its inaugural flight. Ariane 6's upper stage restarted its Vinci engine using a novel auxiliary propulsion unit. This restart capability will allow Ariane 6 to drop off multiple passengers into different orbits on future flights and deorbit itself through Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its mission, ensuing it doesn't end up as space debris.
Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said: “The next Ariane 6 is planned for launch this year on its first commercial flight under Arianespace as operator and launch service provider. The success of this first flight marks the start of Ariane 6’s operational career, giving Europe an autonomous access to space.”
He concluded: “The new launcher’s order book is proof of the versatility of Ariane 6 and of its capacity to accomplish a wide range of missions into multiple orbits. It reflects the confidence that customers have in Ariane 6 for both their institutional and commercial missions. We are eager to begin operating our new launcher.”