Josef Aschbacher, Director-General of the European Space Agency (ESA), speaks at the ministerial-level ESA Council (CM22) held at the Grand Palais Ephemer in Paris, France, on November 23, 2022.Reuters/Benoît Tessier/File photo Obtaining license rights
PARIS (Reuters) – European space officials said on Monday they will have to make key timing decisions in the coming weeks about restarting Europe’s flagship space launch vehicle after a series of delays.
The first launch of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket has been postponed until next year, while test failures of the smaller Vega C have prevented the rocket from returning to service in 2023, after its launch in December 2022. ing.
Russia’s Soyuz program, Europe’s third traditional path to space, was suspended last year amid a breakdown in East-West relations after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
These developments have left Europe scrambling to close the gap in launch capabilities as competition intensifies in the commercial launch market, with a larger and more modern Ariane 6 expected to be launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It is designed to increase your competitiveness against rivals.
The European Space Agency said in a press conference that it plans to open a slot for Ariane 6’s first launch in early October after completing a series of engine tests.
The next test is scheduled for Tuesday after the ignition of the main section’s engines at a launch site in French Guiana was postponed to August 29. Another test of the complex upper stage was successfully conducted in Germany on Friday.
ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher declined to commit to a full launch in the first half of next year, but results so far point to a test debut “not too late” in 2024, followed by the first commercial mission about six months later. This is an indication that this will continue, he told reporters.
Ariane 6 is being developed at a cost of 4 billion euros to replace Ariane 5, which ended operations in July, leaving European countries with a vacuum in autonomous access to space for the first time in more than 40 years.
Italy’s Vega C was grounded in December 2022 after its second mission failed. Investigators blamed the launch failure on a defective engine component, and a new spacecraft was launched in June after a failed ground test.
Aschbacher said the timing for Vega-C’s return to service will be set after the commission’s report later this month.
Meanwhile, the previous generation Vega rocket is scheduled for its first liftoff on October 4 since its newer, larger sister model launched in 2022.
Report by Tim Hepher.Editing: Jason Neely and Allison Williams
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