Europe's space launch industry reopened for business today when the Ariane 6 heavy rocket lifted off at 17:24 CET from a spaceport in French Guiana.
Originally scheduled for December, the Ariane 6 mission was delayed first to February 26 and subsequently to March 3 due to issues in transporting the satellite to the launchpad. However, just minutes before Monday's launch, engineers identified an “anomaly” in one of the refuelling pipes, postponing the launch further.
Finally, Ariane 6 had its first successful commercial launch today. The milestone came seven months after the rocket's maiden flight, which restored sovereign access to space for Europe.
Ariane 6 carried CSO-3, a French military spy satellite capable of taking high resolution images of Earth. The probe is the final piece of a three-satellite system designed to improve France's ability to monitor global activities from space. The first two probes were launched aboard Russian Soyuz rockets in 2018 and 2020.
Since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Europe has been unable to access Soyuz rockets. Meanwhile, the retirement of the Ariane 5 in 2023 and delays to the new Vega-C small-launch vehicle left the continent without independent access to space. Europe was forced to rely on Elon Musk's SpaceX for over a year.
The Ariane 6 mission
In 2023, Europe completed only three successful orbital launches — its lowest total since 2004. The US, meanwhile, had 109 — the most a single country has ever made.
However, with Ariane 6 now up-and-running and Vega-C having launched in December, things are looking up for Europe's space capabilities. And it's not just publicly-funded missions that are on track.
German startup Isar Aerospace is ready to blast Europe's first privately-funded rocket in orbit from Andøya Spaceport in Norway, pending regulatory signoff. Isar is one of several startups like PLD Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg looking to provide a local alternative to SpaceX. Both of those companies are also set to launch for the first time this year.
The progress of European rocket startups — and veterans like Arianespace and Avio (the company behind Vega-C) — couldn't come at a better time. European states have long sought to strengthen their security autonomy, a priority that has gained renewed urgency following the Trump administration's thawing relations with Russia.
However, Europe might not be able to replace SpaceX altogether. Ariane 6, unlike SpaceX rockets, is not reusable. And while Europe is fostering private companies with reusable, light-lift rockets, it likely won't have a reusable heavy-lift option until the 2030s, when a successor to Ariane 6 may emerge.
Nevertheless, while not a panacea for Europe's autonomy in space, the boost in local capabilities is still good news for the region's broader space tech sector. “The increased access [to space] will no doubt accelerate the pace of innovation and deployment of new space technologies in Europe,” Mark Boggett, the CEO of investment firm Seraphim Space, previously told TNW.
The progress could also yield immense financial rewards. McKinsey and the World Economic Forum expect the global space economy to rise from $630 billion in value in 2023 to $1.8 trillion by 2035.
Update (7:45PM CET, March 6, 2025): This article has been updated to show that the launch was successful.