The European Space Agency has been waiting almost a decade for the first launch of its powerful new rocket, the Ariane 6, but the new rocket is finally ready to fly. And if all goes well, European countries will once again have independent access to the last frontier, a crucial step for the space exploration and economic goals of the continent's countries and companies.
Here's what you need to know about the first flight of the large rocket, Ariane 6.
When will Ariane 6 launch and how can I see it?
Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Tuesday, July 9th, between 2pm and 6pm Eastern Time.
ESA will stream a live broadcast of the flight on YouTube starting at 1:30 pm ET.
Why does Europe need its own rockets?
Europe has not had independent access to space since 2023, when Ariane 5, the predecessor to Ariane 6, made its final flight. Another small ESA rocket, Vega C, has been grounded since 2022 after a flight failure.
Until now, many of Europe's missions have been carried out on Russian Soyuz rockets, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to a severing of ties between the two countries in 2022, ending European use of Russian rockets.
At the same time, the need for Europe's presence in space is only growing, with climate monitoring, navigation satellites, and exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond. Over the past year, major ESA missions have flown on SpaceX rockets, including ESA's Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer, two Galileo navigation system satellites, and the Euclid Space Telescope. ESA's spacecraft Hera, which will visit two asteroids, is due to be launched by SpaceX in the autumn.
Building rockets domestically, rather than relying on international partners, could ensure that European missions, both institutional and commercial, are prioritized on their own terms.
What's new about Ariane 6?
Built by French aerospace company Arianespace, Ariane 6 is the latest in a series of rockets dating back to the 1970s.
Compared to the now retired Ariane 5, the Ariane 6 has several improvements, including an upper stage with an engine that can be reignited up to four times. This allows missions requiring different orbital altitudes to be carried out with one rocket. The final boost can also be used to steer the upper stage out of orbit, where it will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere rather than contributing to space debris.
The new rocket has a maximum altitude of 203 feet and comes in two versions: Ariane 62 with two boosters has a maximum launch weight of 540 tons and can carry up to 10.3 tons of payload to low Earth orbit. Ariane 64 has four boosters with a maximum launch weight of 870 tons and can carry up to 21.6 tons to low Earth orbit.
In contrast, the latest version of the Ariane 5 can carry about 20 tonnes of payload into low Earth orbit, and SpaceX's Falcon 9 can carry about 23 tonnes into low Earth orbit.
On Tuesday, ESA is testing the capabilities of Ariane 62, which is equipped with two boosters.
What will be launched on Ariane 6?
Ariane 6's maiden flight will send a series of smaller missions into space from companies, government agencies and research institutes. Some of the spacecraft will be placed into Earth orbit, including NASA's CubeSat Radio Interferometer Experiment, which will measure how solar radiation interacts with Earth's atmosphere. Other payloads, such as ESA's Young Professionals satellite, will remain on board to collect data during the flight.
Two re-entry capsules are also due to be launched to demonstrate new technologies that could enter Earth's atmosphere and potentially bring back cargo from space.
What kind of spacecraft will be aboard Ariane 6 in the future?
Arianespace's Ariane 6 launch schedule is booked through mid-2028, with 30 flights planned for a variety of customers, including 18 launches for Project Kuiper, Amazon's effort to eventually build a constellation of space-based internet satellites to rival SpaceX's Starlink service.
If Tuesday's launch is successful, another Ariane 6 rocket is scheduled to launch as early as December. Six more launches are planned for 2025, and eight the following year, including the Plato mission, ESA's space telescope that will search for exoplanets. Arianespace ultimately hopes to maintain an average pace of nine flights per year.