Brussels, 03/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - Ariane 5's successor has now been assured after almost 20 years of good and loyal service. European ministers in charge of space policy held a meeting on Tuesday 2 December on the subject of building the new Ariane 6 rocket. It is therefore the option argued for by France that has been retained, as opposed to the alternative put forward by Germany, that will be guaranteeing European competitiveness.
Staying competitive. At their European Space Agency (ESA) ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, the 20 European ministers responsible for the organisation (as well as their Canadian counterpart) managed to reach a decision, after months of negotiations, to launch Ariane 6 as early as 2020. The construction of this new rocket, which has been claimed to be more competitive because it will be less expensive and more flexible, is expected to begin without delay. It will have to compete with the new US SpaceX spacecraft, which explains the need to take a decision as soon as possible but it will also have to compete with other Japanese and Indian initiatives too.
Bienkowska delighted. Many observers including the European Commissioner, Elzbieta Bienkowska, described the decision as historic. She also pointed out in this connection that with more than 30 satellites that will be launched over the next 10 to 15 years “the EU will require reliable, secure, and cost effective launch capacity for many years to come, considering that it is the biggest single institutional client of ESA at this stage”.
France versus Germany. The decision also put an end to months of struggle between France and Germany on this question. Ariane 6 has been the option argued for by France since the beginning of the negotiations, whereas Germany prioritised an alternative solution: an advanced version of Ariane 5 but a model that was approximately a 50% scaled down version of Arianne 6, which corresponded better to its own industrial potential.
€8 billion. The cost of building Ariane is an estimated €8 billion over a ten-year period, with some of the funding coming from the European Space Agency's Ariane programme from which France will provide 52% of funding and Germany 22%. The budget will also cover regeneration of the French Guyana launch station at Kourou, from where the first Ariane 6 will be launched in 2020, followed by four other launches in 2021 and eleven in 2023.
Orion. As Europe begins to increase the pace of its spatial prowess, particularly with the recent success of Philae, the US has not been lacking in initiative either and on 4 December, its Orion capsule will make a test flight in view of the future manned flight to Mars in 20 years' time. (MD)