Author: Scanway
Publication date:
The maiden flight of Europe’s largest launch vehicle, the Ariane 6, will take place tomorrow at approximately 8:00 p.m. Polish time from the European spaceport in French Guiana. During its maiden flight, the rocket will carry a total of 18 payloads from space agencies, companies, research institutes, and universities into orbit, including the YPSat (Young Professionals Satellite) equipped with Scanway cameras. The dual-camera optical system provided by the Company will enable monitoring of two key phases of the flight: the deployment of the rocket’s main fairing during launch, as well as the separation of individual payloads in low Earth orbit at an altitude of approximately 600 km. The data collected and provided by Scanway will be used by the European Space Agency (ESA) for detailed analysis and to optimize future Ariane 6 flights. Work on the rocket began in 2014, and the cost of its development amounted to approximately 4 billion EUR.
The Ariane 6 rocket is the direct successor to the Ariane 5 rocket, which was in service from 1996 to 2023 and completed a total of 117 flights, 112 of which were successful. Even before its maiden launch, Ariane 6 already has 30 flights under contract.
– The maiden flight of Ariane 6, Europe’s largest launch vehicle, is a historic moment for the entire space sector and a crucial test for Europe, which urgently needs to regain its independence in terms of its own launch capabilities, which it lost last year with the retirement of the Ariane 5 rocket, which had been in active service for 27 years and had flown on over 100 space missions. The new rocket will be capable of launching nearly 22 metric tons of payload into low Earth orbit, which is approximately 70% more than SpaceX’s competing Falcon 9 rocket. On the other hand, Ariane 6 will not be a reusable rocket. With 30 contracted launches, it will certainly play a significant role in the development of the European space sector, and we at Scanway will be part of that during its maiden flight. Our cameras mounted on the YPSat satellite will capture the most important phases of the rocket’s flight, including the moment the main fairing deploys and the separation of the payloads at an altitude of approximately 600 km. The data we provide will be used by ESA for detailed analysis, and for us, it confirms the validity and necessity of developing this type of imaging system, which enables tracking of key stages of space missions or performing self-diagnostics on satellites already in orbit. This is a growing trend that we identified several years ago, and Ariane 6 will provide us with a very strong reference. “—comments Jędrzej Kowalewski, President of the Management Board of Scanway S.A.”
The Ariane 6 rocket project was carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with entities from 13 European countries, and the space company ArianeGroup—a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and Safran—served as the prime contractor responsible for building the rocket. The rocket’s design allows it to carry payloads ranging from 10.3 metric tons to 21.6 metric tons into low Earth orbit and from 4.5 metric tons to 11.5 metric tons into geostationary orbit, depending on the configuration used. The Ariane 62 uses two boosters, while the Ariane 64 uses four. The number of boosters determines the rocket’s height, which ranges from 56 meters to 62 meters.
The goal of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle is to ensure Europe’s independence in launching payloads into orbit, to increase competitiveness in the commercial spaceflight market, and to offer an alternative to the popular Falcon 9 rocket from the American company SpaceX. The Ariane 6 rocket can be used to launch a variety of payloads into Earth orbit, including communications satellites, scientific missions, and exploration missions.
YPSat (Young Professionals Satellite) is a European project aimed at capturing key phases of the Ariane 6 rocket’s maiden flight. As part of this project, Scanway supplied a dual-camera optical system that, during the first phase of the flight (approx. 3 min. and 39 seconds after launch) will monitor the separation of the rocket’s main fairing, and during a later phase of the flight (approximately 66 minutes after launch) will record the separation of the rocket’s payloads. The Scanway camera system consists of two wide-angle cameras, electronics, and mechanical interfaces capable of delivering video in two modes: video at up to 1080p and 30 fps or 720p and 60 fps, and still images with a resolution of 12.3 Mpix.
The European Space Agency (ESA) manages European space transportation programs, including the Ariane 6 program. ESA’s role in the development of Ariane 6 is to oversee procurement and be responsible for the entire launch system. ESA is the operator of the inaugural Ariane 6 flight.
ArianeGroup is the prime contractor for the development and production of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle system. It oversees the entire supply chain, including equipment and structures, engine production, the integration of the various stages, and the integration of the launch vehicle at the European spaceport in French Guiana.
Arianespace provides launch services for all types of satellites and to all Earth orbits. Starting with the second Ariane 6 flight, Arianespace will operate the rocket’s flights on behalf of its customers from the moment of launch.
Scanway, in collaboration with Karol Wójcicki, creator of the YouTube channel “Z głową w gwiazdach,” has prepared a Polish-language broadcast of the Ariane 6 launch, which will be available to watch on Tuesday, July 9, at approximately 19:30. Karol Wójcicki’s guests will be Jędrzej Kowalewski, CEO, and Mikołaj Podgórski, COO. Link to the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf4r4KYfnzg