the launch campaign for the future European rocket has begun

A crucial step. The central body of the first Ariane 6 rocket flight was installed at the Kourou Space Center, in Guyana, announced the European Space Agency on Friday April 26. This assembly of the main and upper stages as well as the auxiliary propellants (the boosters) is part of the preparation for the inaugural flight scheduled between June 15 and July 31. The operation, carried out on the launch pad, is one of the major innovations compared to Ariane 5 in order to save time and efficiency.

The two stages were transferred horizontally from the launcher assembly building (BAL) located 800 m away using four automated guided vehicles before being erected on the launch pad between Wednesday and Friday, said ESA, the National Center for Space Studies (Cnes) and the manufacturer Arianegroup.

From delay to ignition

“Seeing the new European launcher erected on the launch zone marks the completion of years of work in Arianegroup’s design offices and factories”, greeted Martin Sion, the president of the group, quoted in the press release. But several steps remain to be taken before the inaugural shot. Among them, the “qualification review” scheduled for the end of the month, a final examination of the rocket.

Initially planned for 2020, this first flight of Ariane 6, designed to face competition from the American launcher Space X, has been postponed several times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and development difficulties. Europe has thus been deprived of its own access to space, since the final flight of the Ariane 5 heavy launcher last July.