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Europe’s newest rocket finally took flight yesterday after years of delays. The Ariane 6 successfully took off from a launchpad in French Guiana at 7pm GMT to deploy a series of satellites – putting Europe back in control of its access to space. The European Space Agency began planning for this moment in 2014, but missed a target date of 2020 due to the pandemic and technological challenges. The Ariane 5 was retired last July, meaning for the past year the bloc has relied on Elon Musk’s SpaceX to get satellites into space. “We really need Ariane 6,” Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA’s director of space transportation, told the NYT. “Europe is back.” To note: unlike Musk’s Falcon 9 rockets the Ariane 6 is not reusable, so it may struggle to compete in the global space market. But for Europe, for now it’s enough to be back in the race.
