Author: Scanway
Publication date:
Scanway, in collaboration with ESA and ArianeGroup, presented the first footage from the maiden flight of the Ariane 6 rocket. Footage recorded by a dual-camera optical system confirms the operation of Scanway’s vision system in space conditions, thereby granting the Company’s latest product “flight heritage.” The SCS (Scanway Camera System), part of the YPSat (Young Professional Satellite) project participating in the first Ariane 6 flight, is based on solutions previously validated by Scanway during its own STAR VIBE space mission conducted last year. Thanks to the Wrocław-based company, Poland made a significant contribution to the maiden flight of Europe’s largest rocket, Ariane 6, which launched on July 9 at 9:00 p.m. Polish time from the spaceport in French Guiana. The flight was deemed a success and allowed Europe to regain its independence in launching heavy payloads into orbit.
– The success of the Ariane 6 flight and its spectacular course—including its passage visible to the naked eye from Poland—is a source of great joy for the entire Scanway team and a reason to be proud that, as Poland, we played a part in such a prestigious event as the first, inaugural flight of Europe’s largest launch vehicle. Europe has regained its independence in launching payloads into orbit, and we have once again demonstrated what we can do with cameras in space. The flight heritage of our cameras used during the rocket launch is valuable and important for the potential future commercialization of this product line. Trends and the demand we’ve received indicate a business need to develop this type of product, which enables a range of valuable tasks, including self-diagnostics for satellites, launch vehicles, and any space equipment whose owner would like to see what’s happening to it in orbit – comments Jędrzej Kowalewski, Chairman of the Management Board of Scanway S.A.
YPSat (Young Professionals Satellite) is a European project aimed at capturing key phases of the Ariane 6 rocket’s maiden flight. As part of the project, Scanway supplied a two-camera optical system that monitored the separation of the rocket’s main fairing during the first phase of the flight and recorded the separation of individual payloads mounted on the rocket during the subsequent phase. 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 data acquired and provided by Scanway will be used by the European Space Agency for detailed analysis and to optimize future Ariane 6 flights.
– The first materials we presented to the public were photos captured by Scanway cameras with a resolution of 12.3 megapixels, and the video footage, after compression, was successfully transmitted to Earth. Beyond the aesthetic value—which, in our opinion, is spectacular—this is yet another demonstration of the Scanway team’s expertise in our area of specialization: cameras, telescopes, and space observation technology in general. However, we’re not resting on our laurels, because we’re about to head back into space—this time as part of the EagleEye project, the largest Polish satellite in the history of the country’s space sector. This project is being carried out in a consortium with Creotech Instruments S.A. and the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), and we have supplied an optical telescope capable of imaging Earth at a resolution of 1–2 meters per pixel, depending on the current orbit. This is the largest telescope ever designed, built, and used in Poland to date, and another milestone in our Company’s development. “—comments Mikołaj Podgórski, COO and co-founder of Scanway S.A.”
Work on the rocket began in 2014, and the cost of its development was 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. Ariane 6 currently has 30 flights under contract; the second flight is scheduled to take place later this year, and another six are planned for 2025.
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.
Footage captured by Scanway cameras can be found here: https://scanway.space/images-from-ypsat-mission/