It’s (finally) official, Ariane 6 will not take off before 2023

Despite difficult communication, the information was finally made official yesterday by the director of ESA. Ariadne 6 is late in a particularly unfavorable context, with the end of the collaboration linked to the Russian launchers. At Guiana Space Centerthe tests of the assembled rocket have not yet taken place.

The need is critical!

Back off to better blow up

Since the beginning of the year, behind the scenes, it was already no longer a secret: the agendas leading to the first orbital liftoff of Ariane 6 did not end until the beginning of 2023. But the official authorities continued, until June 13, to hammer home that the new European flagship of launchers could take off before the end of 2022. Josef Aschbacher, guest at the BBC, finally admitted this new delay yesterday.

Much remains to be done before Ariane 6 is operational, and unfortunately the tests have again been postponed by several months. The development is in the so-called “combined tests” phase, where the equipment is tested in real conditions. The launch site passes the stages one after the other, but the main body of the rocket remains invisible, in its integration building since the end of January. However, one of the highlights of these combined tests will indeed be to have a complete Ariane 6, vertically on its firing table. It was scheduled for April…

The launcher still absent from the combined tests

It is expected that several countdown simulations with firing will take place as part of the combined tests, which will last several months on the ELA-4, the launch site of Ariane 6. On the other hand, the test firing of the upper stage on the German test bed in Lampoldshausen, expected since March 2021, has not yet taken place.

So many factors that make the arrival of the rocket elements for its maiden flight to orbit unlikely before the fall. According to the information we have, it is even premature to announce a take-off in the very first months of 2023 before the teams have dissected all the results of the combined tests.

It clogs…

The lack of Ariane 6 has been sorely felt since last year with several flight postponements, but it has been all the more marked since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. In response to European sanctions, the Russian space agency had indeed ceased all activity at the Guiana Space Center, stopping Soyuz flights.

However, European satellites have a strong need for a vehicle to get into orbit! Two pairs of Galileo satellites are ready, there is the French defense satellite CSO-3, the earth study satellite EarthCare, the Euclid space telescope… All were to take off before spring 2023, but there are also private customers !

Additional problem, even if Ariane 6 took off in the first months of the year, it would be unlikely to see more than three to four launches from this new launcher in its first year of operation (even if everything went well ).

The traffic jam is real, and some tough choices and prioritizations may be expected. Boring, a few weeks after signing the giant contract with Amazon. The only moral compensation: competitors ULA and Blue Origin are also experiencing delays. Two major launches are planned for Europe in the coming weeks: Ariane 5 on June 22, and the maiden flight of Vega C on July 7.

Source : space news