Dubai Telegraph - Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasts off for first time

EUR -
AED 3.849459
AFN 71.267446
ALL 97.489194
AMD 407.131662
ANG 1.888724
AOA 957.395732
ARS 1052.23996
AUD 1.608928
AWG 1.889106
AZN 1.778344
BAM 1.94835
BBD 2.115818
BDT 125.236374
BGN 1.954483
BHD 0.394975
BIF 3036.718353
BMD 1.048048
BND 1.408315
BOB 7.241313
BRL 6.09607
BSD 1.047898
BTN 88.544945
BWP 14.307296
BYN 3.429786
BYR 20541.735881
BZD 2.112523
CAD 1.463185
CDF 3007.896896
CHF 0.929362
CLF 0.036978
CLP 1020.337634
CNY 7.58493
CNH 7.60312
COP 4601.977666
CRC 532.714856
CUC 1.048048
CUP 27.773265
CVE 110.700038
CZK 25.368204
DJF 186.258433
DKK 7.459213
DOP 63.305535
DZD 140.00766
EGP 52.060203
ERN 15.720716
ETB 129.012117
FJD 2.380379
FKP 0.827242
GBP 0.832233
GEL 2.855918
GGP 0.827242
GHS 16.611978
GIP 0.827242
GMD 74.41137
GNF 9044.651585
GTQ 8.090067
GYD 219.261645
HKD 8.157359
HNL 26.384543
HRK 7.475996
HTG 137.593904
HUF 411.299528
IDR 16692.832925
ILS 3.893576
IMP 0.827242
INR 88.571355
IQD 1373.466575
IRR 44128.050457
ISK 146.100754
JEP 0.827242
JMD 166.433635
JOD 0.743174
JPY 162.013521
KES 135.723264
KGS 90.648567
KHR 4244.593516
KMF 489.959968
KPW 943.242577
KRW 1467.528958
KWD 0.322411
KYD 0.873361
KZT 519.70306
LAK 23009.888592
LBP 93905.078447
LKR 304.924111
LRD 189.120651
LSL 18.979788
LTL 3.094612
LVL 0.633954
LYD 5.119731
MAD 10.475264
MDL 19.084031
MGA 4894.383123
MKD 61.499953
MMK 3404.018207
MNT 3561.266195
MOP 8.401216
MRU 41.822309
MUR 48.632961
MVR 16.203073
MWK 1818.362584
MXN 21.399862
MYR 4.679553
MZN 67.022637
NAD 18.97998
NGN 1768.213504
NIO 38.557204
NOK 11.607569
NPR 141.67231
NZD 1.787898
OMR 0.4035
PAB 1.047993
PEN 3.977374
PGK 4.219178
PHP 61.802851
PKR 291.409517
PLN 4.343765
PYG 8225.236565
QAR 3.81568
RON 4.976446
RSD 116.993815
RUB 106.1678
RWF 1435.825416
SAR 3.934914
SBD 8.756995
SCR 14.316445
SDG 630.380512
SEK 11.596769
SGD 1.410704
SHP 0.827242
SLE 23.659663
SLL 21977.042238
SOS 598.917452
SRD 37.106106
STD 21692.472405
SVC 9.169938
SYP 2633.251262
SZL 18.980071
THB 36.391332
TJS 11.161424
TMT 3.668167
TND 3.317061
TOP 2.454635
TRY 36.149672
TTD 7.1138
TWD 34.1281
TZS 2779.798908
UAH 43.266431
UGX 3872.047297
USD 1.048048
UYU 44.65797
UZS 13498.85466
VES 48.210488
VND 26643.9939
VUV 124.426335
WST 2.925721
XAF 653.458476
XAG 0.033959
XAU 0.000393
XCD 2.832401
XDR 0.799443
XOF 649.260344
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.933367
ZAR 18.957858
ZMK 9433.687606
ZMW 28.899502
ZWL 337.470948
  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • JRI

    -0.0350

    13.195

    -0.27%

  • RBGPF

    -0.5000

    59.69

    -0.84%

  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.59

    +0.28%

  • BCC

    3.3200

    140.73

    +2.36%

  • VOD

    -0.1050

    8.835

    -1.19%

  • RIO

    0.1100

    62.5

    +0.18%

  • NGG

    -0.2400

    63.03

    -0.38%

  • SCS

    0.1350

    13.205

    +1.02%

  • CMSD

    0.0880

    24.348

    +0.36%

  • RELX

    0.5550

    45.665

    +1.22%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    0.1900

    33.54

    +0.57%

  • BCE

    -0.4480

    26.552

    -1.69%

  • BP

    0.3450

    29.425

    +1.17%

  • AZN

    0.6450

    63.845

    +1.01%

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasts off for first time
Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasts off for first time / Photo: Jody AMIET - AFP

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasts off for first time

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasted off for the first time smoothly on Tuesday, carrying with it the continent's hopes of regaining independent access to space.

Text size:

The much-delayed inaugural flight of the European Space Agency's most powerful rocket yet launched from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 4pm local time (1900 GMT).

Crews on the ground at the launch site, which is surrounded by jungle on the South American coast, applauded as the rocket soared into clear skies.

Ariane 6's first launch, which was originally planned for 2020, is hoped to bring an end to a difficult time for European space efforts.

Since the last flight of its workhorse predecessor, Ariane 5, a year ago, Europe has been unable to launch satellites or other missions into space without relying on rivals such as Elon Musk's US firm SpaceX.

ESA chief Josef Aschbacher said it was a "very important moment for Europe".

"We are re-establishing independent access to space for Europe," he said just before the launch.

- 'First sigh of relief' -

Earlier Tuesday, the giant metal structure housing the rocket was rolled away, unsheathing the 56-metre (183 feet) behemoth in light rain, an AFP journalist observed.

After a positive weather report, the rocket's tanks were filled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The planned time for liftoff was delayed by an hour after routine checks revealed a small data issue that was resolved, according to the ESA.

Tony dos Santos, Kourou technical manager, said that teams on the ground would only be able to "breathe our first sigh of relief when the first satellites have been released".

That is expected an hour and six minutes after liftoff. The entire flight is scheduled to take nearly three hours.

The mission will be considered successfully complete when the rocket's reusable upper stage splashes down into the Pacific Ocean.

In Kourou, more than 200 experts were concealed in a bunker near the launch site, checking for any potential problems before liftoff.

They were in constant contact with the Jupiter control room, the communications hub between the teams -- and data sent from the rocket.

A large number of armed forces also watched over the launch, including three fighter jets deployed to deter any curious aircraft nearby.

Successful inaugural flights are by no means guaranteed. Historically, nearly half of the first launches of new rockets have ended in failure. That includes Ariane 5, which exploded moments after liftoff in 1996.

But out of 117 launches over nearly 20 years, only one other Ariane 5 flight completely failed.

- Europe's 'return' -

Space has become big business and competition is soaring, particularly from SpaceX's fully re-usable Falcon 9 rockets.

Yet in recent years Europe has found itself without an independent way to give lucrative satellites a ride into space.

Russia pulled its Soyuz rockets, long used for European launches at Kourou, after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Later that year, Europe's Vega-C light launcher was grounded after a launch failure. Ariane 6 delays compounded the crisis.

Tuesday's launch will mark Europe's "return" to the space scene, ESA space transportation director Toni Tolker-Nielsen said.

Selected by the ESA back in 2014, Ariane 6 will able to place satellites in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres above Earth, as well as satellite constellations a few hundreds of kilometres up.

The rocket's maiden flight will carry 17 different "passengers", including 11 university micro-satellites, as well as re-entry capsules and small scientific experiments.

One more Ariane 6 launch is scheduled for this year, followed by six in 2025 then eight in 2026.

In the future, it is booked to launch some of Amazon's Kuiper constellation of internet satellites.

B.Krishnan--DT