Progress is slowly but surely being made with Ariane 6. Europe's new heavy-duty launch vehicle has been on the launch pad in Kourou in the French overseas department of Guyana for two months now.

The maiden launch is approaching.

Niklas Zaboji

Economic correspondent in Paris

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"Europe is waiting for Ariane 6," Daniel Neuenschwander told journalists in early September.

Together with the heads of the rocket manufacturer Arianegroup, the rocket launch marketer Arianespace and the French space agency Cnes, the director for space transport at the European space agency Esa tried to demonstrate unity on this day.

The message: together we Europeans are strong to survive in the increasingly tough competition with space players such as Elon Musk's company SpaceX.

But the appearance of unity is deceptive.

It is true that European “sovereignty” is no longer only invoked in Sunday speeches in Paris, but also in Berlin.

The strategic importance of having one's own, independent access to space for areas such as the military, the Internet, weather observation and navigation is being emphasized more than ever before in politics.

Increased European cooperation also seems necessary because the Russians withdrew from Kourou in the spring and the Europeans have not been able to use the medium-sized Soyuz launchers for Galileo satellites since then, for example - and Esa is now giving the planned rocket launches to the Americans and Japanese at short notice or Indians must book.

However, after the first Ariane took off from Kourou in 1979, the ranks in European space travel are no longer as closed as they have been in previous decades.

Distrust has spread - not least in the question of whether the Germans and French will continue to build rockets together in the future or whether they will increasingly rely on private, national actors.

André-Hubert Roussel, head of Arianegroup, a joint venture between the German-French-Spanish aerospace group Airbus and the French engine manufacturer Safran, observes the divergences with concern.

"There are differences of opinion between France and Germany, but I hope that we will be able to overcome them," he says in an interview with the FAZ. He had also invited to Kourou to let his displeasure run free.

Time is pressing, customers are waiting

Roussel does not like the latest signals from Berlin.

“France wants to further develop the Franco-German partnership, especially in the Ariane program.

France would like to strengthen solidarity, transfer know-how to Germany and strengthen Germany's weight in Ariane," he says.

Germany, on the other hand, "seems to be taking a path that is a little contradictory, listening to Chancellor Scholz's statements."

Against the background of the Ukraine war, he himself says that more European solidarity is needed - but at the same time "a strong trend is recognizable to promote German microlaunchers and the emergence of competition in the field of launchers", i.e. small rockets with low payloads.

Roussel also finds this position "a bit contradictory" in that

For years there have been increasing voices, not least from Germany, that consider the structures of Arianegroup and Esa to be outdated and impeding innovation.

The Ariane 6, which has been in development since 2014, is already outdated compared to the American Falcon 9 from SpaceX and with around four billion euros in development costs it is overpriced, it is said, even if Esa speaks of 40 percent savings compared to Ariane 5 and transport Director Neuenschwander confirms this magnitude despite inflation.