2024-06-17 04:00:03
By Philippe Pujes – Launch systems program manager, National Center for Space Studies (CNES)
The new Ariane 6 launcher will experience its maiden flight on July 9, which will be a key milestone for the European continent. At a time when the European Union is gaining considerable momentum in the space sector (Copernicus Earth observation programs, Galileo satellite navigation, Iris2 constellation telecommunications), Ariane 6 is an essential component of European sovereignty.
Furthermore, by the simple launch guarantee that it provides, Ariane 6 explicitly or implicitly gives credibility to the offers of our satellite industry on the international market, thus contributing to its strengthening.
Its predecessors Ariane 1/2/3/4 and Ariane 5 having each been operated for around twenty years, the assets of Ariane 6 were built to allow the same operating life.
The importance of space systems for our society, our economy and our public policies has continued to increase in recent decades. Space systems for telecommunications, Earth observation (including meteorology), and navigation have become real keystones for essential capabilities for many economic sectors (transport, communications, energy, agriculture, etc.), but also for defense or, more generally, for our sovereignty.
Space systems contribute greatly to decision-making autonomy. Indeed, thanks to their non-intrusive access to all areas of the globe, Earth observation space systems, particularly those providing high-resolution imagery, as well as those providing electromagnetic intelligence (FAMEfor the detection, localization and technical characterization of electromagnetic transmitters such as radiocommunication systems or radars), are valuable aids in assessing situations.
Space, a place of influence and strategy
Space also contributes to our freedom of action and to strengthening the effectiveness of our armed forces. Recent conflicts and military operations have seen increasingly intensive use of space tools. These tools provide, in fact, the capabilities (command, control, communicationintelligence, dataenvironmentlocalization/navigation, etc.) allowing our armies to benefit from tactical and operational superiority across all of their theaters of engagement.
Artist’s view of the Ariane 6 launcher.
ESA – D. Ducros, CC BY
Finally, mastery of space tools is an asset for our foreign policy thanks to the credibility and strategic stature it brings. It also constitutes a showcase demonstrating the technological level of our achievements. By covering very large areas, sometimes difficult to access, in a short time frame and with high repetitiveness, Earth observation from space is essential for discovering, monitoring, measuring and interpreting physical, chemical, biological or human phenomena whose monitoring and anticipation are important for public policies at different levels, from regional to global. Climate issues, forecasts of agricultural or natural resources, land use and planning are all examples of the decisive contribution of space.
In just a few years, space has become an essential factor in civil security. The combination of Earth observation space tools, for disaster forecasting and then for situation assessment, and telecommunications and navigation tools, for intervention on the ground, considerably increases the effectiveness of relief efforts, while the disaster has generally neutralized local terrestrial resources. For the same reasons, these space tools facilitate the reconstruction phase.
An imminent launch
Our sovereignty requires that these space systems which have become indispensable to it be launched by means which are specific to us: this is the reason for the Ariane programme and, in particular, the latest Ariane 6 model whose first launch is imminent.
Ariane 6 is perfectly suited to institutional and commercial space missions. Its two versions, A62 (2 lateral boosters) and A64 (4 lateral boosters), combined with its relightable upper stage engine (that of Ariane 5 was not), allow it to cover a wide range of performances and thus to respond optimally to very varied orbital launch requests:
– Low Earth Orbit (- Medium Earth Orbit for Galileo (around 15,000-25,000 km altitude), the European satellite navigation system;
– Geostationary orbit (36,000 km altitude), for telecommunications or meteorological satellites;
– “Exotic” orbits for certain scientific missions;
– Missions in the solar system.
Wafaa Tabibi, member of the ESA Ariane 6 team in front of the Ariane 6 test model on the launch pad at the port in Kourou.
ESA/CNES/Arianespace/ArianeGroup-S. Martin, CC BY
In fact, Ariane 6 replaces two different launchers: Ariane 5 and Soyuz. In doing so, it allows an increase in rate compared to Ariane 5, which is likely to improve technical and operational reliability as well as competitiveness, the fixed costs of a launch system being significant.
In addition to this rate effect, a modernized production tool and an optimized definition of Ariane 6 will contribute to a reduction in unit launch costs of around 40% compared to Ariane 5.
Ariane 6, like its predecessors, will benefit from all the advantages and skills of the Guiana Space Center (CSG):
– An ideal latitude maximizing performance: close to the equator, the CSG allows to have from the outset the right orbital inclination for the geostationary as well as to benefit from the maximum slingshot effect of the rotation of the Earth;
– A coastal orientation allowing all orbits to be covered by launches towards the sea, in complete safety for populations and property;
– Minimal seismic and cyclonic risks;
– Expertise and professionalism of the teams based on half a century of launch operations.
Developed under the project management of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the dual project management of ArianeGroup for the launcher and the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) for the launch pad and adaptations of the launch base, Ariane 6 was able to benefit from the know-how accumulated in European industry thanks to successive launch system programs, but also ballistic missiles.
It should be noted that it shares some of its elements with the Vega C launcher, also developed by ESA to cover missions requiring lower performance, notably the P120C solid propellant.
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