The inaugural flight of Ariane 6 should take place between “end of June, beginning of July”

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP 5:55 p.m., March 26, 2024

The inaugural flight of the new generation European satellite launcher Ariane 6 is now planned in a window between the end of June and the beginning of July, it was announced on Tuesday during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to the Kourou site, in Guyana. “The official window is the end of June, the beginning of July. We are in it,” declared the president of the National Center for Space Studies, Philippe Baptiste, during a dialogue with the head of state.

Postponed several times due to Covid and development difficulties

Initially planned for 2020, this first flight of Ariane 6, designed to face competition from the American launcher SpaceX, has been postponed several times due to the Covid-19 pandemic and development difficulties. It was until now announced between mid-June and the end of July by the European Space Agency (ESA). Also present in Kourou, the president of Arianespace Stéphane Israel told journalists that the date of this inaugural flight would be officially fixed. in May.

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“I feel like I’m on board with you since the first day in this adventure,” launched Emmanuel Macron, taking note of this slightly more ambitious schedule. The French president visited the Kourou space center as part of a visit to Guyana, then to Brazil from Tuesday evening. “You are going to be part of this generation of builders of a new adventure,” he added. Europe is currently deprived of independent access to space, since the final flight of the Ariane 5 heavy launcher last July, which Ariane 6 is to succeed.