Inside a highly secured factory near Paris, engineers are making final preparations on a massive silver engine. In a few days, a similar engine will power the maiden flight of Ariane 64, the strongest version of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket, equipped with four boosters for the first time.
The Ariane 64 rocket is set to lift off on Thursday from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Its mission is to place 32 satellites into orbit for Amazon Leo’s broadband internet network.
As Europe’s flagship space launcher, Ariane 64 enters a tough global race dominated by heavyweights such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX. At ArianeGroup’s Vernon facility, teams design and test engines, while the rocket’s main stage is built and assembled at another plant in Les Mureaux, west of Paris.
Associated Press reporters were given rare access to these tightly guarded sites, where highly skilled teams turn space ambitions into daily work.
“It’s a special launch something new for us on Ariane 6,” ArianeGroup Chief Technical Officer Hervé Gilibert said. He explained that this flight introduces the four-booster setup, making the rocket almost twice as powerful as earlier versions.
“Don’t be surprised if you see it accelerate much more than Ariane 62, the version we have already launched five times,” he said. “It delivers significantly more power, allowing much heavier payloads to be sent into space.”
Ariane 6 is a joint effort by 13 European Space Agency member states.
“We are working with more than 600 subcontractors,” Gilibert said. “Everything comes together at two main sites Bremen in Germany for the upper stage, and Les Mureaux in France for the lower, or main stage of the launcher.”
All parts have now been shipped across the Atlantic for final assembly. Standing 62 meters tall, the rocket is as high as a 20-story building.
“We check everything until the very last minute, and then we fly,” Gilibert said.
The flight will last nearly one hour and 50 minutes, with satellites released in pairs. The mission aims to rival SpaceX’s Starlink network.
The Vulcain 2.1 engine ignites first at liftoff.
“For a few seconds, we verify that it is functioning properly,” said Emmanuel Viallon, head of the Vernon site. “Once we are fully confident it will operate correctly for the eight minutes that follow, we ignite the solid boosters and the rocket lifts off.”
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Experts say Ariane 64 is key to Europe’s independent access to space.
“It’s an additional level of performance,” said Hermann Ludwig Moeller of the European Space Policy Institute, calling the launch an important test for the program.
Project manager Arnaud Demay said ,ArianeGroup is also looking ahead to reusable technology. He admitted the emotional impact of each launch.
“We do it so rarely, and it’s so majestic when it takes off that little touch of magic inevitably overwhelms me with emotion every time,” he said.