
Copernical Team
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Exolaunch Deploys Satellites on Ariane 6 Inaugural Launch

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Ariane 6 VA262

Launch of Ariane 6 VA262 on 9 July 2024 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
This is Europe’s newest heavy-lift rocket, designed to provide greater power and flexibility at a lower cost than its predecessors. The launcher’s configuration – with an upgraded main stage, a choice of either two or four powerful boosters and a new restartable upper stage – will provide Europe with greater efficiency and possibility as it can launch multiple missions into different orbits on a single flight, while its upper stage will be able to deorbit itself at the end of missions.
The first Ariane 6 rocket soars to the sky

Ariane 6 first launch

Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 powered Europe into space taking with it a varied selection of experiments, satellites, payload deployers and reentry demonstrations that represent thousands across Europe, from students to industry and experienced space actors.
This inaugural flight, designated VA262, is a demonstration flight to show the capabilities and prowess of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space. Nevertheless, it had several passengers on board.
Ariane 6 was built by prime contractor and design authority ArianeGroup. In addition to the rocket, the liftoff demonstrated the functioning of the launch pad and operations on ground at
Ariane 6 inaugural flight press conference

Replay of the press conference held in Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana with ESA, ArianeGroup, CNES and Arianespace representatives providing updates on the first mission of Ariane 6.
Access all the replays from the launch event.
Access all the launch campaign footage in broadcast quality.
NASA moon rocket stage for Artemis II moved, prepped for shipment

NASA is preparing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage that will help power the first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis campaign for shipment. On July 6, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, moved the Artemis II rocket stage to another part of the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The move comes as teams prepare to roll the massive rocket stage to the agency's Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in mid-July.
Prior to the move, technicians began removing external access stands, or scaffolding, surrounding the rocket stage in early June. NASA and Boeing teams used the scaffolding surrounding the core stage to assess the interior elements, including its complex avionics and propulsion systems. The 212-foot core stage has two huge propellant tanks, avionics and flight computer systems, and four RS-25 engines, which together enable the stage to operate during launch and flight.
The stage is fully manufactured and assembled at Michoud. Building, assembling, and transporting is a joint process for NASA, Boeing, and lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company.
Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasts off for first time

Ariane 6 takes flight

Ariane 6 launches to the sky on 9 July 2024.
Europe’s newest heavy-lift rocket, it is designed to provide great power and flexibility at a lower cost than its predecessors. The launcher’s configuration – with an upgraded main stage, a choice of either two or four powerful boosters and a new restartable upper stage – will provide Europe with greater efficiency and possibility as it can launch multiple missions into different orbits on a single flight, while its upper stage will deorbit itself at the end of mission.