The payloads to be carried on the first Ariane-6 launch
With the first Ariane-6 rocket now being stacked for its first test flight sometime in the June-July timeframe, a European Space Agency (ESA) press release today touted the payloads the rocket will carry.
All told, the rocket will carry nine cubesats, two satellite deploy systems, two test re-entry capsules, and five experimental payloads. That only four are government payloads, with the rest from a variety of private companies, once again illustrates ESA’s shift from running everything. It is acting to encourage commercial operations that are establishing capabilities that it once would have demanded it do. Instead it will be the customer for these things in the future.
The two re-entry capsules might be the most interesting payloads of all. Both are private, from ArianeGroup and the French company The Exploration Company. The latter is developing its own Nyx cargo freighter, comparable to Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule, aimed at providing cargo services to the many commercial space stations presently being built. This test flight is apparently designed to prove out some of the company’s re-entry technology.
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With the first Ariane-6 rocket now being stacked for its first test flight sometime in the June-July timeframe, a European Space Agency (ESA) press release today touted the payloads the rocket will carry.
All told, the rocket will carry nine cubesats, two satellite deploy systems, two test re-entry capsules, and five experimental payloads. That only four are government payloads, with the rest from a variety of private companies, once again illustrates ESA’s shift from running everything. It is acting to encourage commercial operations that are establishing capabilities that it once would have demanded it do. Instead it will be the customer for these things in the future.
The two re-entry capsules might be the most interesting payloads of all. Both are private, from ArianeGroup and the French company The Exploration Company. The latter is developing its own Nyx cargo freighter, comparable to Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule, aimed at providing cargo services to the many commercial space stations presently being built. This test flight is apparently designed to prove out some of the company’s re-entry technology.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
“The two re-entry capsules might be the most interesting payloads of all… (including the) Nyx cargo freighter, comparable to Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule…”
Unfortunately Cygnus was not a “re-entry” capsule, but burned-up on reentry, making it the de facto trash disposal system for the ISS.
On the other hand, Cygnus could boost the ISS orbit as required, like the Russian Progress freighter. The SpaceX Dragon capsule (manned or freight version) cannot perform this function. Nyx’s abilities here are not mentioned.
Thus the comparableness of the Nyx to the Cygnus seems to be somewhat open to question.
Ps. I have read that, with the discontinuation of the NG Antares booster, Cygnus will continue to service the ISS, boosted by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Ray,
Good call about the Nyx capsule. It will be – assuming it reaches operational service -more comparable to Cargo Dragon than to Cygnus.
Anent Cygnus, Antares has not been discontinued so much as killed off by geopolitics. Its erstwhile 1st stage structure was made in Ukraine in a factory which is now rubble. It’s engines were made in Russia and are now embargoed. Firefly is designing and building a new first stage for an upgraded version of Antares that is scheduled to debut ca. two years hence. In the interim, Cygnus will launch on Falcon 9.
“Firefly is designing and building a new first stage for an upgraded version of Antares that is scheduled to debut ca. two years hence. In the interim, Cygnus will launch on Falcon 9.”
I have a hunch that the new booster, the Antares 330, is going to have a tough time competing with the F9 costwise, especially 2 years from now. And it is not reusable!
You know what is my first reaction when I hear about millions being poured into designing a new non-reusable rocket?
“Hey, did you hear about Russell Wilson going to the Steelers?”