European rocket Ariane 6 flies into space for the second time
After the aborted launch on Monday, it worked today: Ariane 6 has taken off. The re-ignition of the Vinci engine also worked.
Launch of Ariane 6
(Image: Arianespace)
It is flying: The European launcher Ariane 6 has been launched for the second time. The launch had been canceled at short notice on Monday.
The rocket lifted off at 13:24 local time (17:24 CET) from the Kourou launch site in the French overseas department of French Guiana, according to the European space company Arianespace. The flight went according to plan and the rocket deployed its payload, the French military's CSO-3 satellite.
Ariane 6 is the new European launcher and is intended to carry satellites into space for commercial and government clients. It is the largest European rocket to date and can transport up to 11.5 tons of payload into higher orbits and up to 21.6 tons into lower orbits. The upper stage can be ignited repeatedly in space to deploy satellites at different positions.
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Ariane 6 four years late
Ariane 6 was launched for the first time last summer, four years later than originally planned. Technical problems delayed its development, which meant that the European Space Agency (ESA) was without its rocket for a year following the end of Ariane 5 in 2023.
Despite the delays, not all the rocket's issues have been resolved: During the first flight, the upper stage's auxiliary propulsion failed, meaning that the Vinci engine could not be reignited. This time, the flight was initially canceled half an hour before take-off. The reason was an unspecified "anomaly". On the second flight, however, the Vinci engine reignited.
The development of Ariane 6 was decided in 2014 and cost 4.5 billion euros. The rocket is expected to be in use until at least the mid-2030s. It is also controversial because, unlike parts of competitor SpaceX's rockets, it is not reusable.
(wpl)
