19.10.2022
Ariane 6 first flight planned for fourth quarter of 2023
Ariane 6, the new heavy-lift launch system being developed by the European Space Agency, will make its inaugural flight as soon as the fourth quarter of 2023. Briefing media gathered at ESA’s Paris Bertrand headquarters on 19 October, Director General Josef Aschbacher said sufficient progress had been made over the past several months to anticipate a Q4 2023 first flight, pending the realization of three key milestones before April next year.
Aschbacher was joined by ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, Daniel Neuenschwander, and the heads of ESA’s Ariane 6 partners: André-Hubert Roussel, chief executive of launcher system industrial prime contractor ArianeGroup; Stéphane Israël, chief executive of launch services provider Arianespace; and Philippe Baptiste, chief executive of CNES, the French space agency which administers Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and is responsible for development and operations of the Ariane 6 launch base.