Today, we celebrate the European space industry! Congratulations to the #Ariane6 team (European Space Agency - ESA, CNES, ArianeGroup, ARIANESPACE and partners) on a historic inaugural flight! 🚀 This launch marks a significant milestone for the industry, as Ariane 6 is set to revolutionize missions from low-Earth orbit to deep space. Special congratulations to the Space Center of the University of Montpellier (CSUM) whose students designed the Robusta-3A CubeSat, which is one of the eleven payloads for this first flight. This satellite will be used to refine forecasts of Mediterranean episodes to better understand and anticipate them. This success is a testament to the dedication and innovation of the entire European #Space community!
#Ariane6 powers into space 🚀 Europe's new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, made its #FirstFlight from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana at 16:00 local time on 9 July (21:00 CEST). Ariane 6 is the latest in Europe's Ariane rocket series, taking over from Ariane 5, and featuring a modular and versatile design that can launch missions from low-Earth orbit and farther out into deep space. “With the successful first flight of Ariane 6, the European #SpaceIndustry has moved into a new era,” said Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup. “This historic launch demonstrates the unfailing commitment of our teams and partners, whom I would like to thank warmly for this success, which reflects on the entire European industry. Seeing Europe’s new launcher lift off into space marks the culmination of an outstanding technical and technological adventure, and the beginning of a long history of Ariane 6 operations. The next flight models are already in production and the stages of the second model will be shipped to the Guiana Space Centre this autumn for the first commercial flight of Ariane 6.” This inaugural flight, designated VA262, is a demonstration flight whose aim is 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. At 21:06 BST, 22:06 CEST, one hour after liftoff, the first set of satellites on board Ariane 6 were released from the upper stage and placed into an orbit 600 km above Earth. Satellites and experiments from various space agencies, companies, research institutes, universities and young professionals were included on this inaugural flight. Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/ezr-dRvx European Space Agency - ESA CNES ARIANESPACE