WASHINGTON — With the profitable completion of a core stage hot-fire take a look at, the European House Company says it now expects the primary launch of the Ariane 6 to happen in the course of 2024.
At a Nov. 30 briefing, ESA Director Normal Josef Aschbacher introduced a launch interval for the inaugural Ariane 6 flight of June 15 via July 31. A extra exact launch date will probably be offered after qualification opinions within the spring of 2024.
The announcement comes after a Nov. 23 long-duration take a look at firing of a mannequin of the core stage of the Ariane 6. That take a look at, carried out on the launch pad at Kourou, French Guiana, was meant to simulate a full burn by the core stage.
“It grew to become fairly clear proper after the take a look at that this was going very nicely,” Aschbacher stated, a conclusion affirmed at a gathering of an Ariane 6 job drive Nov. 29, permitting ESA to set a launch date. “We’re very assured that the take a look at was a full success.”
Throughout that take a look at, the core stage’s Vulcain 2.1 engine was meant to fireplace for 470 seconds. Nonetheless, the engine shut down after 426 seconds, which officers attributed to a defective sensor and “very conservative” take a look at thresholds meant to guard the launch pad that may not have been used on an precise launch.
“All of the goals for the take a look at have been anyway achieved,” stated Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA’s director of area transportation. “It didn’t change the success of the take a look at.”
The core stage take a look at passed off after a Sept. 1 take a look at of the Ariane 6 higher stage in Germany, which confirmed its efficiency in a nominal flight. “We’ve bought all of the hot-fire exams that are wanted for the qualification of the maiden flight,” stated Martin Sion, chief govt of ArianeGroup, the prime contractor for the Ariane 6.
There are nonetheless some further exams deliberate earlier than the primary launch. One other higher stage take a look at is scheduled for Dec. 7 in Germany to check its efficiency in “degraded” situations. A fueling take a look at of the Ariane 6 in Kourou is scheduled for Dec. 15, which can conclude with a short ignition of the core stage engine.
Flight {hardware} for the primary Ariane 6 launch, known as FM1, will probably be transported by ship from Europe to French Guiana, arriving in February. It can endure remaining exams there, together with a moist costume rehearsal, Sion stated.
The primary launch will carry a number of small satellites. “It’s not bringing a serious payload into area,” Aschbacher stated, however famous the company needed to nonetheless use the flight as a possibility for smaller satellites.
If the primary launch is profitable, ESA and Arianespace will work in the direction of a second launch earlier than the top of 2024. “The goal is to have a second flight by the top of the 12 months,” stated Stéphane Israël, chief govt of Arianespace. “It is a key goal for us.” That second launch, he later stated, would carry the CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite tv for pc for the French army.
He stated that Arianespace will search to conduct “as many flights as attainable” in 2025, together with the primary launches for its largest business buyer, Amazon’s Challenge Kuiper constellation. The long-term aim is 9 to 10 Ariane 6 launches per 12 months.
Aschbacher stated the take a look at, together with an settlement on future assist for the Ariane 6 reached on the European House Summit in Seville, Spain, Nov. 6, marked the start of the top of a “launcher disaster” that has quickly disadvantaged Europe of unbiased entry to area. That disaster, brought on by Ariane 6 delays in addition to the grounding of the Vega C after a December 2022 launch failure, has required ESA and the European Fee to show to SpaceX for launches of key science and navigation satellites.
“One mustn’t underestimate the selections of Seville,” he stated, the place ESA members agreed to offer as much as 340 million euros ($370 million) a 12 months in assist for the Ariane 6, authorizing the acquisition of a tranche of 27 rockets after the preliminary group of 15. The settlement additionally included assist at decrease ranges for Vega C. “To have this entry to area assured now all through the last decade, each for the Ariane 6 and the Vega C launchers, is prime.”
“It’s actually elementary that we regain our foothold on the launcher panorama,” he stated on the finish of the briefing. “However, after all, we’ve got but to carry out.”
