Space travel - Esa chief on Ariane 6 launch: "Europe is back"
The maiden flight of the new European carrier rocket Ariane 6, according to the head of the European Space Agency Josef Aschbacher, was a successful accomplishment. "Europe is back," Aschbacher said after the rocket's launch from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
This flight is a major milestone. "I'm personally relieved." The next Ariane 6 launch is planned before the end of the year.
Incident at the end of the flight
However, an auxiliary thruster stopped unexpectedly at the end of the flight - during the technical demphase. As a result, two payloads were not delivered as planned. They will now remain in the upper stage, which remains in space.
The Ariane 6 is the successor model of the Ariane 5, which was in use from 1996 to summer 2023. It is intended to launch satellites for commercial and public clients into space and is significantly cheaper than its predecessors. The rocket took off from Kourou on Tuesday evening for its approximately three-and-a-half hour maiden flight.
Christmann: Ariane 6 will get even better
The coordinator of the German federal government for aviation and space, Anna Christmann, told the German Press Agency: "The start of Ariane 6 was a very successful one." One could see: "The launch sequence ran like clockwork." This shows that European cooperation functioned well in this case.
According to Christmann, technologies like space travel also show that certain things need to be tested. "And one sees, it doesn't always have to work perfectly until the end, but from that, we learn and the Ariane 6 will certainly become even better in the next flights."
- Despite the auxiliary thruster issue during the technical dephase at the end of the flight, the European Space Agency's head, Josef Aschbacher, still considered the Ariane 6's maiden flight a successful accomplishment, stating, "Europe is back."
- The Ariane 6, launched from Kourou, French Guiana, serves as the successor model to the Ariane 5, which was in use from 1996 to the summer of 2023.
- French Guiana, located in South America, is the location where the European Space Agency's Spaceport resides, from which the Ariane 6 carrier rocket took off for its maiden flight.
- ANNA Christmann, the coordinator of the German federal government for aviation and space, stated that the Ariane 6's maiden flight was a significant success, with the launch sequence running smoothly, demonstrating European cooperation's effectiveness.
- The main objective of the Ariane 6 is to launch satellites for both commercial and public clients into space, and it is designed to be significantly more affordable than its predecessors.
- According to Christmann, space travel, like the Ariane 6's maiden flight, offers valuable insights, as not everything always needs to work perfectly, and mistakes can lead to improvements, implying that the Ariane 6 will likely become even better in its future flights.
