Ariane 6: a European cooperation
In brief
Designing, building and operating a new rocket to send payloads into space is no easy undertaking. ESA’s wealth of experience and track record of success in implementing space programmes for more than 50 years is at the heart of the Ariane 6 programme.
In-depth
ESA’s main roles in the Ariane 6 programme is as contracting authority – managing the budget from Member States participating in the Ariane 6 development programme; and as launch system architect – ensuring that the rocket and launch pad infrastructure work together.
ESA also provided the launch system requirements for institutional missions and is responsible for executing the main system tests leading up to the inaugural flight. The Agency is also the operator during Ariane 6's first flight.
Participating states in the Ariane 6 programme are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Industries across Europe are building the launch vehicle and its components, under the guidance of ArianeGroup: the main contractor and who designed the Ariane 6 rocket. Taking an operational approach based on expertise from Ariane 5, ArianeGroup is designing Ariane 6 using the most modern methods based on reliability, availability, maintainability and safety.
ArianeGroup orders and ensures delivery of components from the many production facilities that deliver all the components that make an Ariane 6 rocket. Across Europe, people, institutions and companies are providing high-tech, dependable and space-worthy components, all working in harmony for launch.
The launchpad for Ariane 6 is a completely new project and is a huge undertaking in itself. The building and running of the 1.5 square kilometer area in French Guiana is undertaken by France’s space agency CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales). At Europe’s spaceport, CNES manages operations, the delivery of the satellites to be launched, the monitoring and tracking of rockets during their flight, security and safety of the area and ensuring the local environment is protected.
While ESA provides the requirements for its own missions, the commercial exploitation of Ariane 6 is run by Arianespace who identify commercial markets for launches and are given responsibility for the commercial use of Ariane 6. As commercial launch service provider, six companies will negotiate and get help from Arianespace on their road to space.
These are the four main organisations in the development and operation of Ariane 6; a fine example of European cooperation, embodying the spirit of the ESA convention that entered into force in 1980: “The purpose of the Agency shall be to provide for and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European States in space research and technology and their space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes and for operational space applications systems.”
