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Europe’s big new rocket, Ariane-6, has blasted off on its maiden flight. The vehicle set off from a launchpad in French Guiana at 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on a demonstration mission to put a clutch of satellites in orbit. Ariane-6 is meant to be a workhorse rocket that gives European governments and companies access to space independently from the rest of the world. It will operate in two configurations – the “62” version with two solid-fuel side boosters for medium-sized payloads and the “64” version with four strap-on boosters for lifting the heaviest satellites on the market.
As it climbed smoothly to the desired altitude, and correctly releasing a number of small satellites, the upper-stage of the rocket experienced an anomaly right at the end of the flight. Computers on board took the decision to prematurely shut down the auxiliary power unit (APU) that pressurizes the propulsion system.
This left Ariane-6’s upper-stage unable to initiate the burn that was supposed to bring it out of orbit and set up the final task of the mission – to jettison two re-entry capsules. Controllers were unable to remedy the situation but the flight was still declared a success.
A re-ignition capability planned for the upper-stage for future missions was not demostrated on this debut flight. The rocket now has a backlog of 18 launches for the launch contracts it has secured but the challenge ahead is competition from SpaceX’s reusable falcon-9 rockets at lower prices.
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