European Space Agency launches Ariane 6 for the first time; watch

The European Space Agency carried out the first launch of the Ariane 6 rocket this Tuesday (9 July 2024) from the French Guiana Space Center, at 4:04 pm Brasília time. The inaugural flight aimed to deploy satellites in space and experiments from European agencies, companies and universities.

Developed by ArianeGroup, a partnership between Airbus and Safran, the Ariane 6 had an estimated cost of 4 billion euros. It was delayed for 4 years due to several problems, including technical ones. The project also faced setbacks due to political discussions about its financing and because of the pandemic.

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With 30 flights already contracted, including 18 for Amazon, which intends to launch the Kuiper telecommunications satellite constellation, Ariane 6 aims to reach its commercial and strategic potential.

Arianespace, the company managing the project, plans to carry out the first commercial launch of Ariane 6 by the end of 2024, after 5 months of analyzing the data from this inaugural flight. The expectation is that 9 rockets will be launched annually from 2028 to 2029.

Ariane 6 succeeds Ariane 5, which made its last flight in 2023, ending an era of 117 successful launches since 1996.

The new version of the rocket has 2 solid propellant boosters and can carry up to 10.3 tons to low Earth orbit. A more powerful version will increase capacity to up to 21.6 tons.