European rocket launches for first time

Europe's new large rocket Ariane 6 has completed its first flight.

The vehicle departed from the launch pad in French Guiana at 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on a demonstration mission to put a batch of satellites into orbit.

Workers on the ground in Kourou applauded as the €4bn (£3.4bn) rocket took to the skies.

However, after successfully climbing to the predetermined altitude and correctly releasing multiple small satellites, the rocket's upper stage experienced an abnormality near the end of the flight.

The ship's computer decided to prematurely shut down the auxiliary power unit (APU) that pressurizes the propulsion system.

This prevented Ariane's upper stage from initiating the burn that would have taken it out of orbit, and from completing the mission's final task of jettisoning its two re-entry modules.

The controller was unable to remedy the situation but still declared the flight a success.

“We are relieved; we are excited,” said European Space Agency Administrator Joseph Aschbach.

“This is a historic moment. The first launch of a new heavy-lift rocket does not happen every year, but only happens every 20 or even 30 years. Today we successfully launched Ariane 6,” he told reporters .

Ariane 6 is intended to be a workhorse rocket that allows European governments and companies to access space independently of the rest of the world. It already has a backlog of launch contracts, but there are concerns its design could limit future prospects.

Like its predecessor, the Ariane-5, the new model is expendable – each mission requires a new rocket, and the latest US launch vehicles are being built to be fully or partially reusable.

Even so, European space officials believe Ariane 6 can carve out a niche for itself.

On the surface, the 6 looks very similar to the old 5, but at its core it takes advantage of state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies (3D printing, friction stir welding, augmented reality design, etc.) which should result in a faster and cheaper Production.

Ariane-6 will operate in two configurations:

• The “62” will be equipped with two solid-fuel side boosters for lifting medium payloads
• '64' will have four strap-on boosters to lift the heaviest satellite on the market

The core stage is supplemented by a second or upper stage that places the payload in a precise orbit above the Earth.

This stage has the new capability of multiple stops and restarts, which is useful when launching large batches of satellites into constellations or networks.

Reigniting should also enable the stage to pull itself back to Earth so that it doesn't become a lingering piece of space junk.

The fact that the first flight failed to prove this will disappoint engineers, but should not hinder the Ariane 6 program.

“Many missions don't need to restart in microgravity. It's a flexibility that we can use or not use, and we'll adjust the flight profile based on what we find in the data,” rocket CEO Martin Sion Martin Sion) said manufacturer Ariane Group.

“What is 100 percent clear is that we are preparing for a second launch this year and six launches next year,” added Stéphane Israël of Arianespace, the company marketing the new rocket.

First voyages are always fraught with danger. It's not uncommon for new rocket designs to suffer from some anomaly or outright failure.

When Ariane 5 made its debut in 1996, it exploded 37 seconds after leaving the ground. The loss was blamed on a control software error.

But improved rockets have since come back to dominate the commercial launch market for the world's largest satellites.

This dominance was only broken in the 2010s by American entrepreneur Elon Musk and his reusable Falcon-9 rocket.

The Falcon's speed and price undermine the Ariane 5's competitiveness.

Europe is moving towards reusability, but the necessary technology won't be available until the 2030s. Meanwhile, Mr. Musk is introducing bigger rocket This is expected to further reduce launch costs.

Ariane 6 therefore enters a very challenging environment.

“We can all have our opinions. What I can reiterate is that our order book is full,” said Lucia Linares, ESA's head of space transport strategy.

“I think that's what I say to customers: They say Ariane-6 is the answer to their needs.”

A launch contract is required for the first three years of operation of the rocket. That includes 18 launches by another American billionaire, Jeff Bezos, who hopes to build a constellation of internet satellites he calls Kuiper.

European officials aim to have Ariane 6 fly about once a month.

Pierre Lionnet of space consultancy ASD Eurospace commented that if this flight speed can be achieved, the rocket should be able to establish itself.

“First, we need to make sure there's enough demand from European customers (European institutional customers). Then Ariane needs to win some commercial customers outside of Kuiper. That will give it a market,” he told BBC News.

“But it's a pricing issue. If Falcon-9 is systematically priced lower than Ariane-6, there will be problems.”

Ariane-6 is a project involving 13 European Space Agency member states, led by France (56%) and Germany (21%). Thirteen partners have committed up to €340m (£295m) in annual subsidies to support Ariane-6 in its early stages of development.

The UK was a leader at the outset of the European launcher program and remains an ESA member state, but with the retirement of the Ariane-4 model in 2003, UK direct involvement in Ariane ended.

Some British companies continue to supply components on a commercial basis, and some British-made spacecraft will undoubtedly continue to fly on Ariane.