Cinq, quatre, trois, deux, un. Allumage Vulcain! This is the moment Ariane 6’s main engine was sparked into life, and the entire main stage of the new rocket and the many parts of the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, practised for the full duration of a launch. Of course, as planned, the test model did not leave the ground.

Without its boosters, instead of piercing the clouds Ariane 6’ created its own on Earth: a clean byproduct of the Vulcain 2.1 engine’s oxygen and hydrogen propellants, which came together to send out impressive swirls of H2O.

After the

Week in images: 20-24 November 2023

Discover our week through the lens

One giant planet. Three icy moons. An eight-year journey. One special spacecraft.

Building a mission to Jupiter took years of planning and thousands of people. Now that Juice is finally en route to its destination, our documentary ‘The making of Juice’ takes a look behind the scenes at the development and testing of the spacecraft in the three years leading up to launch. We hear from Juice Project Manager, Giuseppe Sarri, about how and why the film was made.

ESA and SWISSto12, a leading manufacturer of advanced satellite payloads and systems, have signed a contract for the full development of a new product line of satellites called HummingSat.