Advanced Television

Ariane 6

Arianespace revises testing schedule for Ariane-6

Josef Aschbacher, Director General at the European Space Agency (ESA), says that planned pre-launch testing schedule for the new Ariane 6 rocket has been amended in order to “optimise” the timetable. Aschbacher said: “In order to optimise the #Ariane6 testing schedule, the test sequence has been inverted. This allows us to anticipate the launch rehearsal […]

October 23, 2023

Double blow for Arianespace

Ariane 6, the giant replacement rocket for the European Space Agency (ESA), is already delayed until the end of 2024. Now the ESA says that is medium-lift rocket, Vega-C, is also delayed until Q4/2024. The news means that Europe doesn’t have a working rocket to launch commercial, scientific or military satellites, other than two remaining […]

October 4, 2023

Ariane 6 delayed to mid-2024

The already much-delayed debut launch of Ariane 6 rocket is to be further delayed. A briefing by the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that maiden flight is not now likely until the middle of 2024. The delays are likely to push the rocket’s first commercial launch towards the end of 2024. The original schedule called […]

September 5, 2023By Chris Forrester

Ariane 6 engine test postponed again

The European Space Agency (ESA) has again postponed a test-firing of the rocket’s main stage. A statement on August 30th said that a planned test on August 29 was scrubbed because of problems which the Agency described as a “technical issue affecting the control bench” that handles propellant loading and the automated countdown. The key […]

August 31, 2023By Chris Forrester

Ariane 6 suffers further delays

Europe’s giant Ariane 6, already much delayed, is to be further postponed into 2024 says the European Space Agency (ESA). The delay, perhaps as long as six more months, comes amid considerable criticism of ESA, and the rocket’s other build and launch contractors. One recent comment described the ESA and its partners in the project […]

August 9, 2023

Ariane 6 explained; concerns remain

Arianespace has provided a detailed timetable for the introduction of the new Ariane 6 version. The final Ariane 5 rocket will launch on July 4th. Ariane 6 is already extremely late and the original objective was for the rocket to seamlessly take over the launch missions from Ariane 5. While managers have stressed that there […]

June 28, 2023

Final Ariane 5 launch in June

Arianespace will launch its final Ariane 5 rocket on June 16th. The mission aims to launch two satellites: Syracuse 4B, built by Airbus Defence and Space for a French government defence role, and the Heinrich-Hertz-Mission, built by OHB for the German space agency DLR. The flight represents the end of the Ariane 5, a system […]

May 17, 2023By Chris Forrester

Ariane 6 deadline “impossible”

The European Space Agency (ESA) has issued an update to its timetable for the debut launch of its new Ariane 6 launch vehicle. The update came from a Ariane 6 Launcher Task Force set up with ESA’s top management, the launch base prime contractor (CNES), the rocket’s builder ArianeGroup, and service provider Arianespace. But the […]

May 15, 2023By Chris Forrester

Ariane uses rocket cargo ship

Prior to the Ukraine invasion by Russia and the destruction of the giant Antonov-225 aircraft in Kyiv many of the world’s largest satellites and rocket elements were flown from Europe to their North or South American launch sites by the Antonov. Arianespace has a new method of transportation. Ariane has just wrapped a test transatlantic […]

January 17, 2023By Chris Forrester

Rutgers named CCO at Arianespace

Arianespace has appointed Steven Rutgers to serve as its next Chief Commercial Officer. Rutgers began his career in the space industry over two decades ago – initially as the international market and account manager with Inmarsat distributor Xantic in the Netherlands. He subsequently worked in Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore with Stratos and Inmarsat, negotiating […]

January 16, 2023