24/11/23 (Agence Europe) – On the evening of Thursday 23 November, a new test was carried out on the Ariane 6 rocket. “Teams on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven-minute full firing of the core stage’s engine, as it would fire on a launch into space”, said the European Space Agency (ESA) in a statement. For this rehearsal, the boosters were not fired and Ariane 6 remained on the launch pad in Kourou. The test was the longest ever carried out for Ariane 6’s lower liquid propulsion module, equipped with a Vulcain 2.1 engine, according to ESA. The test results should be available in a few days’ time. A final hot-fire test of the upper stage, currently being prepared, is scheduled for December 2023 at the Lampoldshausen test centre. (CG)