Ariane 6: Main And Upper Stages Arrived In Kourou Ahead Of The Maiden Launch

On Feb. 21, after a 10-day transatlantic travel, the central core components of Ariane 6 finally arrived in French Guiana on board ArianeGroup’s Canopée cargo ship. The core stage of the European rocket was loaded on Feb. 10 at the port of Le Havre, in France. Previously, on Feb. 5, the upper stage was loaded in Bremen, Germany.

*Arrival of the stages for the inaugural Ariane 6 flight in French Guiana. Credits: ESA/CNES/ArianeGroup*

At Europe’s Spaceport, the elements will be connected all together, with the side boosters and the fairing, to form the first complete Ariane 6 by spring. Meanwhile, at Kourou’s launch center, the rocket’s test model is being dismantled.

The 121-meter long Canopée vessel was specifically designed for ArianeGroup to transport Ariane 6’s hardware from Europe to the French Guiana. It is the first custom-built transporter to use sails, reducing fuel consumption up to 30%.

What’s left before liftoff

The long and winding development journey of Ariane 6 seems to have finally reached its almost end, with the first launch of the new European launcher scheduled for this summer. Nearly all major tests of the core stage were conducted in Kourou in 2023, including a full-duration hot fire test on November 23.

ELA4 launch pad and Ariane 6 during the hot fire test. Credits: ESA, CNES, ARIANESPACE, ARIANEGROUP — *Ariane 6 during a hot fire test. Credits: ESA/ CNES/ ArianeGroup*

It remains to be understood precisely what happened during the failed test of the upper stage conducted in Lampoldshausen, Germany, on December 7. The test was aborted two minutes after the ignition of the Vinci engine. ESA stated that the test was conducted in extreme conditions, well beyond those of a normal flight profile. An investigation by ArianeGroup was opened. However, the results have not yet been disclosed.

In December, ESA also announced that key milestones had been reached in the testing phase of Icarus, the future upgraded Ariane 6 upper stage. The Innovative Carbo ARiane Upper Stage (Icarus) aims at increasing the performance of the heavy-lift vehicle.

Visual concept of Ariane 6's future Icarus upper stage. Credits: ArianeGroup — *Visual concept of Ariane 6’s future Icarus upper stage. Credits: ArianeGroup*

According to ESA’s timeline, in March the upper stage and the main stage will be connected to form the central core. By April the side boosters will be integrated at the booster finishing facility. ESA, CNES, and ArianeGroup are currently targeting the maiden launch of Ariane 6 between June 15 and July 31, 2024.

About Ariane 6

Ariane 6 is the future European heavy-lift launch vehicle, developed to replace the retired Ariane 5. The prime contractor for the production of the rocket is ArianeGroup, while France’s space agency, CNES, is responsible for the exploitation of the launch facilities in French Guiana.

*Illustration of Ariane 62 and 64 versions. Credits: Arianespace*

The two-stage rocket will be capable of delivering up to 20,600 kg of payload in LEO orbit and 11,500 kg in GEO, in its A64 configuration. Depending on the version the vehicle features two (A62) or four (A64)P120s solid boosters. Firstly scheduled to liftoff in 2020, the maiden flight suffered several delays, leaving Europe without its main asset during a period of spec crisis for the continent.