Tag: Ariane 6
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ArianeGroup Appoints Christophe Bruneau as CEO, Succeeding Martin Sion
ArianeGroup, jointly owned by Airbus and Safran, said its board has appointed Christophe Bruneau as chief executive officer, effective April 1, succeeding Martin Sion. Bruneau joins ArianeGroup from Safran Aircraft Engines, where he has served since 2020 as executive vice president and general manager of the Military Engines division. His appointment follows Sion’s earlier decision…
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Arianespace to Launch First Amazon LEO Satellites on Ariane 6 in February 2026
Arianespace said it will launch 32 low Earth orbit satellites for Amazon on Feb. 12, 2026, marking the start of Europe’s role in deploying Amazon’s broadband satellite constellation and the first flight of the Ariane 6 rocket in its full-power configuration. The mission, designated VA267 and also known as LE-01 for Amazon LEO, will lift…
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Thales Alenia Space Finalises Industrial Team for ESA’s Argonaut Lunar Lander
Thales Alenia Space has completed the formation of the core industrial team that will develop the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Argonaut lunar lander, signing contracts with Nammo, OHB System and two of its own subsidiaries, the company said on Thursday. ESA awarded an €862 million contract in January 2025 to a consortium led by Thales…
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Ariane 6 launches the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite
Arianespace, Europe’s long-standing primary launch provider, flew the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite aboard the third Ariane 6 launch of 2025. The flight, only the fourth ever flown by the Ariane 6, successfully launched on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 21:02 UTC from ELA-4 at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana. All Ariane 6 flights…
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Launch Roundup: Ariane 6 flies, Atlas V and New Glenn both scrub during busy week
This week’s launch manifest featured twelve missions launching on nine different rockets, including the first attempt of the second launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. This roundup covers an eight-day period, from Monday, Nov. 3, to Monday, Nov. 10. In addition to four Falcon 9 missions from SpaceX, an Ariane 62, New Glenn, Chang…
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Rocket Report: ULA confirms cause of booster anomaly; Crew-10 launch on tap
Welcome to Edition 7.35 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX’s steamroller is still rolling, but for the first time in many years, it doesn’t seem like it’s rolling downhill. After a three-year run of perfect performance—with no launch failures or any other serious malfunctions—SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has suffered a handful of issues in recent months.…
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When Europe needed it most, the Ariane 6 rocket finally delivered
Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket lifted off Thursday from French Guiana and deployed a high-resolution reconnaissance satellite into orbit for the French military, notching a success on its first operational flight. The 184-foot-tall (56-meter) rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 11:24 am EST (16:24 UTC). Twin solid-fueled boosters and a hydrogen-fueled core stage engine…
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Arianespace successfully launches Ariane 6’s first commercial launch following Monday scrub
An Ariane 6 rocket lifts off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday, March 6, 2025. It marked the first commercial and second overall flight for this rocket program. Image: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE-ArianeGroup / Optique vidéo du CSG – P PIRON Update March 6, 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 UTC): Arianespace confirms mission success and CNES confirmed…
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Falcon 9’s return to flight reminds spaceflight industry of past anomalies
Nearly every rocket that has flown has had an anomaly. With thousands of components that all need to work in perfect harmony to have a successful mission, there is likely to be one component that is unable to perform every once in a while. While witnessing an anomaly in spaceflight is not as improbable as…
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Europe’s first Ariane 6 flight achieved most of its goals, but ended prematurely
The first European Ariane 6 rocket fired off its launch pad at the edge of the Amazon rainforest and climbed into orbit Tuesday, an inaugural flight a decade in the making that restored Europe’s ability to put its own large satellites into space. The debut of the Ariane 6 rocket came almost exactly one year…