The debut of Ariane 6 will not take place in 2022. The boss of the European Space Agency has indicated that the new European rocket will make its maiden flight in 2023.
It’s over for Ariane 6 this year. The inaugural flight of the new European rocket, which is to replace Ariane 5 in the coming decade, cannot take place as planned in the fall of 2022 from the Guiana space center. In fact, the debut of the next European launcher is once again delayed. One more, after 2020, 2021 and 2022.
It was Josef Aschbacher, who has headed the European Space Agency since last year, who was responsible for bringing the bad news this Monday, June 13, 2022 on the BBC, in the HARDtalk program. This is the first time that a launch in 2023 has been officially mentioned by an ESA official, let alone its director general. The ESA then confirmed it.
Another worrying element that is emerging: we do not know exactly when in 2023 Ariane 6 will be able to take off. Josef Aschbacher didn’t even give an approximate window for this first shot. Europe will therefore have to continue to bet on Ariane 5 in the meantime, a reliable rocket, but aging and expensive.
Ariane 6 tests continue
At the beginning of the year, the two stages of Ariane 6 arrived in French Guiana after a two-week ocean voyage. Arianegroup, responsible for building Ariane 6, indicated in January that ” the main floor and the upper floor were soon to take part in combined tests on the launch pad, but these take time.
The last update on the subject dates from June 13, precisely. The European Space Agency announces that ” Ariane 6 cryogenic line disconnection systems pass key tests “. However, the rocket has not yet been deployed on the launch pad, which would have allowed it to carry out certain delicate points, at the level of the engines and the tanks in particular.
The European Space Agency has not communicated on the reasons which caused this umpteenth delay of Ariane 6. The new rocket site of the Old Continent had already suffered significant disruptions in 2020 and 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic .
Ariane 6 is a rocket that peaks at 70 meters, where Ariane 5 peaks at 55 meters. It is designed in two versions: Ariane 62 and 64. The difference? The number of boosters used. Two for one, four for the other. They support the main propulsion, the Vulcain 2 rocket engine, according to the profile of each mission.
Unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Ariane 6 is not reusable. But it has other arguments to make: its upper stage can maneuver in orbit, thanks to its re-ignition capacity. It also shares parts with Vega-C, another European rocket, which allows for economies of scale. Finally, it is designed to be more competitive on the satellite market. But this only applies to an operational rocket.
