Ariane-6 successfully launches for the second time
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) commercial arm, Arianespace, today successfully launched from French Guiana its new Ariane-6 rocket for the second time, this time placing its first commercial payload, a military Earth imaging satellite, into orbit.
As of posting the satellite has not yet been deployed by the upper stage, as several additional engine burns are required over then hour or so to place it in the right orbit. As there were some issues with this upper stage on the rocket’s first launch, the successful completion of these burns is critical for the rocket’s future. So far the first major burn has been completed as planned. UPDATE: The payload has been successfully deployed in the proper orbit.
This was Europe’s first launch in 2025, so there is no change in leader board for the 2025 launch race:
26 SpaceX
9 China
3 Russia
2 Rocket Lab