It’s official, the inaugural flight of the European Ariane 6 rocket will take place July 9, 2024 ! This was announced today by the Director General of the European Space Agency (Esa) Josef Aschbacher at the ILA Air Show in Berlin.
The goal is 10 flights per year
Officials from Esa, ArianeGroup, Cnes and Arianespace present in Berlin even suggested that a second flight could take place before the end of the year. The goal is to gradually achieve about ten launches per year.
After long months without access to space under its own means (the last launch of Ariane 5 took place in July 2023), Ariane 6 should once again start European space on the path of autonomy. Unlike its predecessor Ariane 5, which is among the most reliable rockets ever built, Ariane 6 will have a re-ignitable upper stage that will allow it to launch several missions in different orbits in a single flight. So far, 30 missions have been reserved for the new European rocket.