ESA optimistic ahead of maiden launch of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket

The European Space Agency (ESA) is optimistic ahead of the maiden launch of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket.

Speaking at the European spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana ahead of Tuesday's planned launch, ESA Director of Space Transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen said he was "96% confident and 4% deeply terrified."

"We have done everything we needed to do. Now we have to launch," he added.

The Ariane 6 is scheduled to fly into space for the first time between 1800 and 2200 GMT from the European spaceport in the overseas French territory.

With the maiden flight, the ESA also aims to put behind the crisis currently affecting the launch vehicle sector in Europe, which presently has no means of sending satellites into space.

ESA chief Josef Aschbacher was equally enthusiastic on the social media platform X.

"Ariane 6 will power Europe into space. Ariane 6 will make history," he posted alongside a photo showing him next to the rocket.

"I feel a wide range of emotions as we get ready to make an impact on European history, for Europe's future, for generations of Europeans," he added.

The Ariane 6 is a European project. The upper stage of the rocket was built at the ArianeGroup's Bremen plant, and the main stage in the French town of Les Mureaux to the north-west of Paris.

If the maiden flight goes well, Tolker-Nielsen said, the agency will have initiated a comeback. However, he added that it would then be necessary to ramp up production capacities and achieve a stable launch rhythm.

Aschbacher added: "This is just the first step, we have lots of work to do yet, but we are laser-focused on changing the future of the European space transportation ecosystem."

Tuesday's planned launch comes four years later than initially scheduled.

Ariane 6 is the successor to Ariane 5, which was in service from 1996 until the summer of 2023.

The Ariane 6 rocket is intended to launch satellites into space for both commercial and public clients and is significantly cheaper than its predecessor.

France and Germany are among the biggest financial backers of the Ariane 6 project, while additional funding was also provided by the other 20 countries that are members of the ESA.