The Ariane 6 rocket officially won’t launch until 2024. The European Space Agency (ESA) gave an update to the Ariane 6 development on Tuesday, formally announcing a launch period for the inaugural flight is projected for 2024. Previous ESA updates indicated a very tight timeline to make a 2023 debut.
ESA said a July 18 series of tests achieved 90% of their objectives, but developers were not able to perform short hot fire on the Vulcain 2.1 engine. A new test will be run on August 29 after the ground system is reconfigured.
ESA plans for a press briefing on Sept. 4 to provide an update on the upper stage hot firing test 3, to be held in Lampoldshausen, Germany, on Sept. 1, followed by a long firing test of the core stage and its engine, the Vulcain 2.1, in Kourou, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 26.
Europe is currently dealing with a gap in heavy-lift launch capacity as the Ariane 5 rocket had its final mission in July. In its lifetime, the rocket placed 197 satellites into Geostationary Orbit (GEO), and deployed 239 satellites total.
