"Ariane 6 will fly in 2023, not in 2022," said a manager during a press briefing, without further details.
A new schedule will be communicated on July 13.
Initially scheduled for 2020, the first Ariane 6 flight had already had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This new postponement is linked to delays in the test program.
“We are making good progress but there are still steps to be taken,” according to the ESA.
The fire tests of the upper stage of the launcher, whose engine is reignitable, planned in Lampoldshausen (Germany), in particular experienced "difficulties".
“We are now on the home stretch before these tests,” we are assured.
The two stages of the launcher, having arrived in Kourou, French Guiana, are also preparing to begin combined tests with the launch pad, another key stage in the system qualification process.
Ariane 6 should make it possible to boost the competitiveness of the European launcher which is facing increasingly fierce competition, mainly that of the American SpaceX.
© 2022 AFP