How to Watch the Inaugural Flight of the Ariane 6 Heavy Lift Rocket

Europe will re-enter the heavy lift rocket market on July 9, 2024, with the maiden flight of the Ariane 6, which will carry nearly a dozen satellites and experiments. The launch window at Kourou, French Guiana, begins at 2:00 pm EDT. Here’s how you can watch.

ESA has eagerly anticipated the launch of Ariane 6 for a considerable time. Originally envisioned about 15 years ago as a successor to the reliable Ariane 5, it was scheduled to fly in 2020. However, it has yet to launch, despite Ariane 5 retiring a year ago.

Ariane 6’s Inaugural Launch on Tuesday

This will change on Tuesday when the first Ariane 6 launches from equatorial South America.

The flight, expected to last two hours, 51 minutes, and 40 seconds, has a busy agenda. It aims not only to prove that Ariane 6 can fly but also to demonstrate the second stage’s capability to refire up to four times.

This ability is crucial for placing different payloads in various orbits and for reducing space debris by ensuring the stage can either reenter Earth’s atmosphere to burn up or boost into a graveyard orbit reserved for defunct spacecraft.

Additionally, the Ariane 6 will carry 11 international payloads, including several satellites, experiments that will remain aboard the rocket for the entire mission to send back telemetry, and two capsules designed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere intact.

One of these is the Nyx Bikini, which will provide data to help engineers develop more effective reentry capsules. The other is SpaceCase SCX-01, featuring a heat shield made of carbon resin instead of conventional phenol plastics. According to its makers, this resin can be used for both the capsule’s structure and the shield, resulting in less weight and greater strength.

ESA’s A62 Medium-Lift Configuration for Ariane 6’s First Flight

ESA states that the first flight of Ariane 6 will utilize the A62 medium-lift launch vehicle configuration, which includes two solid rocket boosters attached to the first stage.

Combined with the Vulcain 2.1 engine burning liquid hydrogen and oxygen, these will provide the 207-foot (63-meter) rocket with a total thrust of 350 tonnes at liftoff. After separation, the second stage will ignite its Vinci engine, propelling it and its payload of up to 22,820 pounds (10,350 kilograms) into low Earth orbit.

The A64 configuration, featuring four solid rocket boosters, can carry larger payloads into higher orbits, including deep space trajectories.

If successful, Ariane 6 could rejuvenate Europe’s heavy launch capabilities, potentially achieving 11 flights per year at a lower cost than the Ariane 5. However, this might be a case of too little too late, as SpaceX regularly launches rockets with larger payloads at lower costs, and many other companies are striving to replicate their reusable vehicles.

To watch the launch, it will be broadcast live on ESA Web TV, and you can view the embedded feed above. French and German language feeds are also available, or you can opt for a commentless feed if you prefer.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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