Tag: Arianespace
-
Rocket Report: The pitfalls of rideshare; China launches next Tiangong crew
Welcome to Edition 7.41 of the Rocket Report! NASA and its contractors at Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue building a new mobile launch tower for the Space Launch System Block 1B rocket, a taller, upgraded version of the SLS rocket being used for the agency’s initial Artemis lunar missions. Workers stacked another segment of…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Rocket Report: Another hiccup with SpaceX upper stage; Japan’s H3 starts strong
Welcome to Edition 7.30 of the Rocket Report! The US government relies on SpaceX for a lot of missions. These include launching national security satellites, putting astronauts on the Moon, and global broadband communications. But there are hurdles—technical and, increasingly, political—on the road ahead. To put it generously, Elon Musk, without whom much of what…
-
Launch Roundup: Sentinel 1C and PROBA 3 among ten planned launches
This week is busy in spaceflight, with 10 orbital launches planned throughout the week. China has, as expected, continued its launch cadence from last week with three more launches this week. SpaceX planned to launch five Falcon 9 missions in five days with the launches of four Starlink missions and one customer payload but has…
-
Vega-C return to flight launch slips a day to allow for ‘further precautionary checks’
Copernicus Sentinel-1C standing proud on its payload adapter between the two fairing halves that will protect the spacecraft on the launch pad and on its ascent towards space. Sentinel-1C, the third satellite in the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, is set to launch in December 2024 on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Image:…
-
European Space Agency and Arianespace at a crossroads
The European Space Agency (ESA) faces a crossroads as it works to prepare flights of the Vega-C and Ariane 6 as early as this December. While technicians in Europe and French Guiana are preparing these rockets and their payloads for flight, ESA and Arianespace are grappling with major changes in the space launch industry over…
-
The Vega rocket never found its commercial niche. After tonight, it’s gone.
The final flight of Europe’s Vega rocket lifted off Wednesday night from French Guiana, carrying an important environmental monitoring satellite for the European Union’s flagship Copernicus program. The 98-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega rocket took off at 9:50 pm EDT Wednesday (01:50 UTC Thursday) from the European-run spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The launcher headed north from…
-
ESA completes swan song of its Vega rocket with Sentinel-2C launch
Sentinel-2 in the Vega launch tower. Image: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE/Optique vidéo du CSG–T. Leduc Update 10:52 p.m. EDT: Arianespace confirmed successful deployment of the Sentinel-2C spacecraft. The European Space Agency (ESA) completed its transition to its Vega-C rocket with the final launch of its first-generation Vega rocket. The mission, dubbed VV24, carried an Earth-imaging satellite to a…
-
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…