2023-06-28 12:23:00
28.06.2023
Franziska Bechtold
Before long, Europe will be without a missile. We spoke to ESA boss Josef Aschbacher about Ariane 6 and start-ups from Europe.
At the opening of the Paris Air Show last Monday, one number caused a stir: “2024“. During a tour of the ESA pavilion at the air show, the head of the French space agency was heard CNES, Philip the Baptistcompared to the Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron name the year. The two stood in front of a model of the new European rocket Ariane 6, whose maiden flight is being pushed further and further back. A few months ago, independent experts suspected that the start could be postponed to next year.
Baptiste later backtracked. The recording was taken out of context. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher confirmed to futurezone that the statement should not be interpreted as a start date. “We are unable to provide a date or status at this time due to the difficulty in estimating the testing and technical work that we have ahead of us.”
The start date will be announced in September
According to Aschbacher, im September still testing the flight software and a overheating test (Hot-Firing) im German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Lampoldshausen. “After that, we believe we’re in a position to be able to provide a launch date or period.” According to the current schedule, the rocket is to November 2023 am Space station in Kourou, French Guiana. Then the wet dress rehearsal should take place, i.e. playing through the entire starting process up to the countdown but without igniting the drive.
➤ Read more: From the Jungle to Space: Visiting the Spaceport in Kourou
This leaves Europe up in the air as far as its missiles are concerned. The launch of Ariane 6 has been repeatedly postponed, and it is becoming increasingly unrealistic that it will take off this year. The result of this delay is that with the approaching launch of the last Ariane 5 am 4th of July and the technical problems of the new smaller ones Vega-C rockets there will soon come a time when Europe will be without a launcher.
ArianeGroup replaced Board of Directors
There are many reasons for this, such as Pandemic and the war in Ukraine. So far, it has not really been communicated why everything is taking much longer than planned. Originally it was first flight for 2020 planned in June 2023 but still not all milestones reached.
Toggle Infobox
There will be 2 variants of Ariane 6:
Ariane 62:
She starts with 2 P120 Solid Boosters
LEO payload: 10.3 tons
GTO Payload: 4.5 tons
Height: 60 meters
Ariane 64:
She starts with 4 P120 Solid Boosters
LEO payload: 20.6 tons
GTO payload: 11.5 tons
Height: 60 – 66 meters
In April, those responsible at ArianeGroup took action. André-Hubert Roussel had to vacate his board position. For his successor Martin Sion, the launch of the rocket has the highest priority. Although no direct connection to the launcher problems has been officially confirmed by ArianeGroup, a clear picture emerges.
ESA boss Aschbacher faces this difficult crisis with his usual calm. Yes, he also wished he knew the start date. But measured against the future period in which ESA would benefit from the performance of Ariane 6 in the coming years, one should not overestimate this phase of the crisis. “I have no worries at all, on the contrary it’s going to be a really, really good launcher. It’s just that we’re waiting for it now and it’s a bit of a difficult period.”
➤ Read more: With these rockets, Europe’s space flight is starting to become independent
Jeff Bezos is also waiting for Ariane 6
There are enough orders, of it 18 flights for Amazon-Chef Jeff Bezos. The more powerful Ariane 64 (see info box) is to launch satellites for its Kuiper constellation. When you can carry out the orders, but is in the stars. Because even if the launch takes place at the end of 2023, there is no guarantee that it will succeed. The maiden flight of the Ariane 5 ends in an explosion after a few seconds, the first successful flight took place a year and 4 months later instead.
The war in Ukraine ensures that for the ESA only Elon Musks SpaceX remains as an alternative. Russia has its Soyuz rocket withdrawn from the European spaceport, almost all cooperations were terminated. For example, the new space telescope, which is scheduled to take off on July 1, has been rebooked on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
➤ Read more: Roskosmos stops work on the European spaceport
European rocket start-ups on the rise
In the long term, European rocket start-ups could also step in, at least to launch small to medium-sized payloads into space. Far advanced is about Isar Aerospace. The German company was Austrian Daniel Metzler founded. The first launch of their Spectrumrocket is out later this year from the Cosmodrome Duck Island planned in Norway.
➤ Read more: These are Europe’s new spaceports
The company also has a commitment from ESA for a launch site in Kourou. Also the Mikrolauncher-Firma PLD Space from Spain signed a corresponding contract with Josef Aschbacher at the Paris Airshow. “We want to help the segment get on the launch pad with contracts and enable them to use these orders to get loans from banks or to acquire financing from institutions,” says Aschbacher. In addition, one wants to strengthen privately financed companies in order to build a dynamic ecosystem in Europe, according to the ESA Director General. That would create an alternative to SpaceX, at least for smaller payloads like satellites.
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