By AFP | 2025-03-07

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket carried out its first commercial mission on Thursday (March 6), placing a French military satellite into orbit to give the continent a new independent access to space.

After delays including a last-minute postponement on Monday, the heavy-lift rocket blasted off into rainy skies from the Kourou space base in French Guiana.

About an hour after the launch, the control center burst into applause as the rocket released the satellite into orbit.

"We could not have dreamed of a better scenario; that was a perfect launch," said David Cavailloles, CEO of Arianespace, operator of the rocket launcher. "A new era now opens for France's European space program."

The launch means that Europe can now independently put large satellites into orbit for the first time since Russia pulled its heavy Soyuz rockets after invading Ukraine in 2022.

Ariane 6 was initially scheduled to enter service in 2020, but repeated delays meant the rocket did not blast off for the first time until last July.

Its first commercial mission put the French military satellite CSO-3 satellite into orbit at an altitude of about 800km above Earth.

CSO-3 completes a network of three French military imaging satellites, with the first two launched in 2018 and 2020 on Soyuz rockets.

'Europe must ensure its own security'

European Union countries have 10 military satellites -- five French and five Italian -- compared to "hundreds" for the United States and China, French Gen. Philippe Steininger said. Britain also has its own military communication satellite system.

"Europe must ensure its own security," European Space Agency (ESA) space transportation director Toni Tolker-Nielsen said in Kourou this week.

While five Ariane 6 launches are planned this year, Tolker-Nielsen said up to 12 could be carried out a year in the future.

An attempt to launch the mission on Monday was called off just 30 minutes before lift off because of a problem on a fuel pipe, Arianespace said. It scrubbed other planned launches in December and February.

'Important step'

Europe has struggled in space since Ariane 6's predecessor Ariane 5 retired in 2023, Russia pulled its Soyuz rockets and an accident grounded the smaller Vega-C launcher for two years.

But with Vega-C resuming flights in December and Ariane 6's first commercial launch, European space efforts are looking for a boost.

Given the military role of the satellite, the French deployed heavy security at the spaceport on the northern coast of South America. French fighter jets patrolled the surrounding skies.

Arnaud Prost, a French pilot and a reserve astronaut for the ESA, said a successful Ariane 6 launch was "an important step for the independence of France and Europe's access to space."

"At the moment, Europe needs to find projects that bring us together," he told AFP.