The first commercial flight of Ariane 6, launched on March 6. Photo: Arianespace

The Ariane 6 completed its first commercial mission on Tuesday, carrying the CSO-3 satellite for the French Defense Procurement and Technology Agency (DGA) for the Air and Space Force’s Space Command (CDE).

Arianespace launched the rocket at 11:24 a.m. ET on March 6 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. This was the second Ariane 6 launch after its debut launch in July 2024.

The mission took place on Thursday after it was postponed from a March 3 launch window. 

Arianespace confirmed post-launch that the CSO-3 satellite was placed in Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). CSO-3is the third in a constellation of military Earth-observation satellites for France’s Multinational Space-based Imaging System program. CSO-1 and CSO-2 were launched in 2018 and 2020 respectively. Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence & Space are the prime contractors for the CSO satellites.

The DGA assigned the French space agency CNES to oversee the building and launching of the CSO satellites, as well as creating the ground-based systems needed for the mission. CNES also helped design the overall system and manage the launch operations.

CNES CEO Lionel Suchet commented: “In orbiting this third CSO satellite, CNES is providing the armed forces with operational support for the continuation of their space capabilities. I congratulate all the teams who worked to ensure the success of this launch, both in preparing the satellite and carrying out this first Ariane 6 commercial mission.”

For this first commercial mission, the Ariane 6 vehicle was in the two-booster Ariane 62 configuration with a short fairing.

In the launch live stream, Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès said the company can expect an Ariane 6-4 booster version launch later this year. 

Cavaillolès highlighted the importance of the successful launch for space sovereignty in Europe. 

“The successful launch of CSO-3 marks the beginning of the Ariane 6’s commercial operation. With this further success, we are consolidating our independent access to space and helping to guarantee sovereignty on behalf of our citizens,” said Cavaillolès.