P120C rocket motor transfer to test stand

Fully loaded with solid fuel, the P120C rocket motor common to Europe’s future launchers Vega-C and Ariane 6 was moved from the integration building and transferred to the test stand at the beginning of June 2018, to prepare for its first hot firing at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The P120C is 13.5 m long and 3.4 m in diameter, contains 142 tonnes of solid propellant and is the largest-ever solid rocket motor built in one piece.