Europe's Ariane 6 rocket set to launch with key Polish tech

The inaugural flight of Europe's largest launch vehicle, Ariane 6, is scheduled for July 9. The rocket will launch around 2:00 PM Eastern Time from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. It will carry 18 payloads on board, including equipment from Poland. The company Scanway has supplied a dual-camera optical system that will enable the monitoring of two key phases of the flight.

The Ariane 6 flight is a significant test for Europe, aiming to regain independence in space transportation capabilities. These were lost with the retirement of the Ariane 5 rocket in 2023, which participated in 117 flights over its 27-year career, with 112 successful. Ariane 6 is intended to facilitate the placement of payloads into orbit and increase competitiveness in commercial flights, a sector currently dominated by SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket.

"Following the end of Ariane 5 flights, ESA had to rely on external services, which involved additional costs and dependence on other companies' schedules. The advent of Ariane 6 restores full control over European space activities, allowing payload launches on our own terms and at convenient times. By having its own rocket, the European industry also minimizes potential geopolitical and commercial risks, and increases security by being able to carry out strategic space projects," explains Maciej Myśliwiec from Space Agency in an interview with WP Tech.

The expert adds that Ariane 6 was designed to be more economical and flexible, enabling the execution of a wide range of missions, from commercial satellites to scientific programs in various weight categories. "This will also broaden the spectrum of possible payloads and release 'in-house' launch capabilities," notes our interlocutor. During the mission scheduled for July 9, Ariane 6 will carry 18 payloads provided by space agencies, research institutes, companies, and universities. One of them will be the YPSat (Young Professionals Satellite) equipped with Scanway cameras.

The task of the YPSat satellite is to capture key phases of the inaugural flight of the Ariane 6 rocket. This would not be possible without the dual-camera optical system supplied by Scanway. According to the company, the solution consists of two wide-angle cameras, electronics, and mechanical interfaces. It provides images in two modes: video up to 1080p at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps and photos with a resolution of 12.3 Mpix.

The optical system "in the first phase of the flight (around 3 minutes and 39 seconds after launch) will monitor the process of separating the rocket's main fairing, and in the later phase of the flight (around 66 minutes after launch) it will record the separation of useful payloads onboard the rocket." The data collected in this way will help ESA in detailed flight analyses, as well as in optimizing future Ariane 6 journeys.

Work on Ariane 6 began in 2014. During the rocket's development, ESA collaborated with space industries from 13 European countries, and its main contractor was ArianeGroup – a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and Safran. Ariane 6 will be available in two versions depending on the power required for each flight.

The first of these - the Ariane 62 variant - has two solid-fuel rocket boosters, a height of 184 feet, and a lift-off mass of 1.2 million pounds. The Ariane 64 version will have four rocket boosters, a height of 203 feet, and a lift-off mass of 1.9 million pounds. The first variant can carry about 22,709 pounds to low Earth orbit and 9,920 pounds to geostationary orbit. The second can respectively carry 47,620 pounds to low Earth orbit and 25,353 pounds to geostationary orbit.

Ariane 6 is not the only rocket being developed in Europe that could increase the independence of launching payloads into orbit. On July 3, the ILR-33 BURSZTYN 2K rocket achieved a historic milestone for Poland by reaching space. Analyses showed that it reached an altitude of 63 miles. This means it crossed the Kármán line, the conventional boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, set at an altitude of 62 miles. The flight of the Polish rocket can be seen in the recording below:

ILR-33 BURSZTYN 2K is a solution developed by engineers from Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation and is the first rocket in the world to use hydrogen peroxide with a concentration of 98% as an oxidizer, one of the most environmentally friendly propellants. The "Amber" rocket, which is 16 feet long and has a diameter of 9 inches, allows for the conduct of experiments, scientific research, and technology tests for the space industry under microgravity conditions without needing to send them to the International Space Station. It can also help develop rocket technology in Poland, including short and medium-range ballistic missiles.