Ariane 6 rocket on its way to its first launch

On June 27, the ESA suffered another blow. The operator of European weather satellites, Eumetsat, cancelled a planned launch on Ariane 6 in favor of SpaceX, citing “exceptional circumstances.” Regaining European autonomySince Ariane 5 was retired last year, Europeans have no longer been able to put satellites into orbit by themselves. Since 2022, they have no longer been able to count on the Italian Vega-C rocket or the Russian Soyuz launcher, due to sanctions applied by the European Union following the invasion of Ukraine. “Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong,” laments ESA boss Joseph Aschbacher. He believes that “Ariane 6 is crucial for Europe, which absolutely must have independent access to space.”Space: Who dominated space in 2023? And above all, where is Europe? (Infographic)Elon Musk’s fierce competitionAll these elements mean that Europe must turn to SpaceX and its Falcon 9 to launch its scientific probes. A hard blow, because Elon Musk’s firm is a direct competitor, which has been showing great vivacity for several years. The American company has adopted a strategy resolutely different from that of the ESA. It has multiplied its launches in recent years, including 96 launches for the Falcon 9 in 2023compared to only two for Ariane 5. This results in more rocket losses, but also much faster learning. SpaceX benefits from another advantage: its first customer, the company is Starlink, an internet service provider owned by none other than… Elon Musk, which allows the company to launch its satellites at low cost.Amazon sends its first satellites into space to compete with Elon Musk’s StarlinkMultiple missions for a modular rocketAriane 6 will be available in two versions depending on the required performance, with two or four boosters. Reaching a height of more than 60 meters, it will weigh nearly 900 tons when launched with a full payload. The rocket will have the capacity to launch heavy and light payloads to different orbits. It will be used in areas such as Earth observation, telecommunications, meteorology, and navigation. 18 payloads will be on board for this mission, including atmospheric reentry capsules, microsatellites and scientific experiments, one of which is being developed by Belgian students. The Ariane 6 order book is already full with 30 missions, including 18 to deploy the Amazon’s Kuiper constellation.