21 instead of 10 tons payload: Ariane 6 before first launch with four boosters
Ariane 6 launched five times with payloads, and now an upgrade is due: with four boosters instead of two, it is set to transport Amazon satellites on Thursday.
Artistic representation of an Ariane 6 with four boosters
(Image: ESA–D. Ducros)
Europe's most powerful launch vehicle is scheduled to launch for the first time on Thursday evening in a version with four boosters, making it significantly more powerful. The European Space Agency (ESA) has now recalled this and added that a total of 32 satellites for Amazon's Leo internet project are to be launched into space on flight VA267. Thanks to the four boosters, the three-stage launch vehicle can now carry 21.6 tons of payload into a low Earth orbit, compared to just 10.3 tons in the configuration with two boosters. While it has already been used five times, the performance of the new variant must now be proven under real flight conditions for the first time.
(Image:Â ESA)
The Ariane 6 is the successor model to the Ariane 5, which was in service from 1996 and last launched in 2023. Work on the rocket was significantly delayed, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic; it therefore only completed its maiden flight on July 9, 2024. When it lifts off, the boosters will be ignited first, followed by the main stage and finally the upper stage. The number of boosters and the length of the rocket fairing can be adjusted by those responsible, depending on the mission. Most recently, on December 17, two new navigation satellites for the Galileo network were launched using the two-stage variant. Thursday's launch is now the first of a total of 18 that Amazon booked four years ago for its satellite internet, which was then still called Project Kuiper.
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The ESA also explains that the rocket for launch VA267 is the highest Ariane 6 to date. When assembled on the launch pad, it will be 62 meters high. 20 meters of this are accounted for by the payload fairing, which will protect the 32 internet satellites until they reach space. It has a diameter of 5.4 meters and could also carry “four giraffes standing on top of each other,” as the space agency further writes. The launch from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, is scheduled to take place between 5:45 PM and 6:13 PM CET on Thursday; the manufacturer Arianespace plans a livestream on YouTube.
(mho)
