Tag: ArianeGroup
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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…
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Ariane 6 successfully launches on maiden flight from French Guiana
Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, has successfully launched on its maiden flight. Liftoff occurred one hour into a four-hour launch window on Tuesday, July 9, at 19:00 UTC. Ariane 6 launched from the Ensemble de Lancement Ariane-4 (ELA-4) launch pad at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The payload for this mission…
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Europe’s long-delayed flagship rocket is about to launch for the first time
Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket is finally ready to fly, four years late but vital as ever for European governments backing the more than $4 billion project. Set for liftoff from French Guiana, the new rocket will be Europe’s flagship launcher for the next decade, providing rides to space for European science probes, navigation satellites, and…
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A new era: Ariane 6 maiden launch campaign gets underway
On July 5, 2023, the Ariane 5 launch vehicle took flight for the last time, thus ending a storied 27-year career for what was Europe’s first heavy-lift rocket. Nearly ten months later, Arianespace is back at the launchpad with its new and advanced heavy-lift workhorse: the Ariane 6. For the first time, the central core…
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ArianeGroup prepares to ship Ariane 6 maiden flight rocket to Kourou
The combined Ariane 6 launcher task force, consisting of ESA, CNES, and ArianeGroup, has reported on the progress of Ariane 6, the steps to launch, and the beginning of stage shipments to the launch site. The Canopée ship, which Ariane and ESA use to transport the massive rocket, will collect the first and second stages…
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“We are worried,” says European rocket chief at prospect of launch competition
There is “no guarantee” France’s ArianeGroup will continue to be Europe’s rocket launch company of choice, according to the head of the European Space Agency, after ESA member states agreed to introduce more competition to the market. Josef Aschbacher, the agency’s director-general, told the Financial Times that the decision at its space summit in Seville…
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Rocket Report: Iran launches satellite; Artemis II boosters get train ride
Welcome to Edition 6.13 of the Rocket Report! While SpaceX waits for regulatory approval to launch the second full-scale test flight of its Super Heavy booster and Starship rocket, NASA’s contractors took two steps forward this week to prepare for the second launch of the government-owned Space Launch System on the Artemis II mission, which…
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Goodbye to the Ariane 5, the ‘Swiss Knife’ of Europe’s launch industry
The Ariane 5 flew for the very last time on Wednesday, July 5, sending government communication satellites for Germany and France into space. Also known as flight VA261, the rocket launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, at 22:00 UTC. The satellites onboard the Ariane 5 included the Heinrich-Hertz (H2SAT), on…
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Themis, Prometheus complete first hot-fire tests in France
Europe has just completed the first successful hot-fire test of its reusable Prometheus engine integrated with the Themis first-stage demonstrator at the ArianeGroup site in Vernon, France. The hot-fire test consisted of Prometheus performing a 12-second burn on the Themis demonstrator on June 22, 2023. The two components are part of a broader European launch…
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Japanese company says commercial spacecraft crashed on moon landing attempt
Executives from ispace (lower left) watch animation of the Hakuto-R landing sequence Tuesday in Tokyo. Credit: ispace A small spacecraft attempting to become the first privately-funded probe to accomplish a controlled landing on the moon likely fell to the lunar surface after running out of fuel Tuesday, according to the Japanese company ispace, which managed…