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Exciting Updates on the Space Industry
Several new European and American rockets are set for blast off in 2024, at a time the aerospace industry faces a shortage of launch vehicles fueled by the rise of satellite constellations.
Here are the maiden flights space watchers can look forward to next year.
Countdown for Ariane 6
The Ariane 6 rocket, which carries Europe’s hopes for space autonomy from the United States and Russia, is set to make its inaugural voyage between June 15 and July 31, after four years of delays due to the pandemic and other difficulties.
The project was launched in 2014 in response to the rise of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Building on Ariane 5, Ariane 6 should be half as expensive as its predecessor thanks to new production methods.
With a planned 28 launches even before its first flight, the rocket, available in two versions, will carry payloads to both geostationary orbit (11.5 metric tons) and low Earth orbit (21.6 metric tons), using reignitable upper-stage engines.
Once launched, the challenge for Ariane Group will be to successfully ramp up its output. “It is a real industrial challenge to go from building two to nine launchers per year,” said executive president Martin Sion.
End of limbo for Vega C?
Banned from flying since December 2022 after the failure of its first commercial flight, the Vega C rocket manufactured by Italian space company Avio, is supposed to launch again in the fourth quarter, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
The unavailability of Europe’s premier small rocket forced the ESA to rely on the US company SpaceX to launch several European scientific and GPS satellites.
The accident was caused by the failure of a rocket motor nozzle, forcing a redesign.
United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has developed the Vulcan Centaur rocket to replace its Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles.
Ambitious missions for Vulcan Centaur
United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has developed the Vulcan Centaur rocket to replace its Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles.
After getting past the first few flights, ULA will begin recovering and reusing the first stage boosters.
This and other innovations make the Vulcan platform “much more affordable” than its predecessors, ULA CEO Tory Bruno told AFP.
Vulcan Centaur will be able to carry up to 27.2 metric tons into low Earth orbit, comparable to Falcon 9. The first launch of Vulcan Centaur is scheduled for early January. This ambitious mission will carry a private lunar lander which could become the first American spacecraft to land on the Moon since the end of the Apollo program.