The sailing freighter Canopée has departed Le Havre, in France, carrying project cargo including the core and upper stages of the Ariane 6 launcher which will be used on the inaugural flight. Arrival at the port of Pariacabo in Kourou, French Guiana, from where it will be transferred to Europe’s Spaceport, is scheduled for the end of February.

“Delivery of the stages for this first Ariane 6 is a crucial step along the road to the inaugural flight and then to commercial operation of the European heavy launcher,” said Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup.

“I want to thank the teams at ArianeGroup and those of our industrial partners for their efforts in recent months. Production of the subsequent flight models is continuing in parallel at our plants in France and Germany, to support a ramp-up that is as ambitious as it is vital, in order to meet the expectations of Arianespace’s institutional and commercial customers,” Sion said.

Main industrial partners of Ariane 6 program are Airbus Netherlands, Airbus Spain, Air Liquide (France), Apco (Switzerland), Avio (Italy), Beyond Gravity (Switzerland), GKN (Sweden), MT-A Aerospace (Germany) as well as Sabca, Safran AB and TAS in Belgium.

Ariane’s two stages

The cryogenic upper stage, which is equipped with the Vinci engine, has been integrated at ArianeGroup’s Bremen site in Germany. The cryogenic core stage, on the other hand, has been integrated at ArianeGroup’s Les Mureaux site near Paris in France, and is equipped with its Vulcain 2.1 engine.

Both stages have undergone a series of functional tests at the end of their integration procedures. The upper stage was transported to the port of Bremen on February 5, and the core stage was taken to the port of Le Havre on February 10. Both stages will be transported on board Canopée to the port of Pariacabo in Kourou by the end of February.

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The project cargo will then be off-loaded and transferred to the Launcher Assembly Building (BAL) on the ELA4 launch complex. There, they will be assembled by the ArianeGroup teams to constitute the launcher’s central core. This will then be transferred from the BAL to the launch pad.

Once on the launch pad, the central core will be raised to the vertical position and placed on the launch table. It will be joined there by the two boosters, one to be installed on each side, to form an Ariane 62. These two solid-fuel boosters are also undergoing final integration by the ArianeGroup teams in a specifically-established building at the European Spaceport.

The upper composite consisting of the fairing and the payloads will then be added to the launcher on the launch pad.

Ariane 6

The Ariane 6 program is managed and funded by ESA. As an industrial lead contractor and design authority for the launcher, ArianeGroup is responsible for its development and production with its industrial partners, as well as for its marketing through its Arianespace subsidiary.

French Space Agency, CNES, and its contractual partners are responsible for the construction of the Ariane 6-dedicated launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. CNES in partnership with ArianeGroup also conducts the combined tests under the responsibility of ESA.