Ariane 6 is set to be the next flagship launch vehicle of the European Space Agency (ESA). On 30 November 2023, after years of delays and unfortunate circumstances, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher finally announced that the rocket’s first flight will take place in the summer of 2024 (Foust, 2023d). [VI1]

Ariane 6 is designed to carry into orbit payloads commissioned by private contractors, national governments, ESA member states and the European Union Space Programme (EUSPA). It aims to replace the recently retired Ariane 5 rocket, which was entrusted with the delivery of Europe’s heaviest and most advanced payloads during its 117-flights-long career from 1996 to 2023  (ESA, n.d. – a).

The birth of the project and the subsequent retirement of Ariane 5 were directly related to the increase of competitiveness by private agencies such as SpaceX, which prompted ESA to reimagine Ariane in a new space economy where states’ interests clash not only between each other but also with emerging non-state actors. Europe’s objective is, indeed, to possess an efficient and cost-effective main launch vehicle capable of resisting competition or, at the very minimum, capable of defending Europe’s independence in the launch of payloads in space.