Now the Ariane 6 has successfully withdrawn
The first commercial start of the Ariane-6 rocket, which stands for European sovereignty in space, succeeded on Thursday from French Guayana. An attempt on Monday had had to be canceled shortly before the official countdown began. A valve on one of the refueling lines had not worked.
The valve is a « heavy device » with a weight of 150 kg, as the CEO of Arianespace, David Cavaillolès, explained on Monday. However, the tests carried out before the shooting « showed that we had abnormal behavior ». Therefore, it was « the only right decision to interrupt the timeline until the malfunction could be understood and treated ».
Two minutes before the start. Photo: Arianespace/Screenshot
The mission originally planned for December had already been moved to February 26th and then March 3, a practice common in space travel.
The highly symbolic mission is intended to seal the regained sovereignty of European space travel against the background of the rapprochement between the United States and Russia.
Own rocket, own straw observation
The Satellit CSO-3, which Ariane 6 is to bring to an orbit at an upper orbit at an altitude of 800 kilometers, will complete the mini-man position on the earth's observation for the French Ministry of Defense and improve its educational skills.
Preparations for the rocket launch in the Kourou space center. Photo: Arianespace/Screenshot
For this mission, the start window is precise for the second, as the French military wishes a precise orbit in order to optimize the quality of the recordings.
In Europe, only France and Italy have military satellites. The first commercial flight of the Ariane-6 rocket with a commercial satellite on board is intended to secure the autonomous access of the Europeans to space, which was denied them for several months, since they no longer use soy missiles since Ukraine's invasion in 2022.
« Europe has to guarantee its own security, » the director of space transport of the European Space Organization, Toni Tolker-Nielsen, had defended on Monday and emphasized that more starts a year with the Ariane 6, up to twelve, compared to the five that are planned for 2025.
