🇪🇺🇫🇷🚀📹 — On July 9, 2024 AD, Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket was launched for the first time ever, lifting off from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana at 3:01 p.m. Eastern (1901 UTC), in a major event and a big boost for the Pan-European space plans

➡️ The Launch followed a short delay due to a data acquisition system issue.

➡️ As noted by Space Today, the rocket’s pair of solid boosters separated just over two minutes into the flight at an altitude of 62 kilometers. The main stage’s new liquid hydrogen and oxygen-fuelled Vulcain 2.1 engine cutoff as planned just under eight minutes after liftoff.

➡️ The first separation command, seeing the deployment of the OOV-Cube, Curium One and Robusta-3A, took place one hour five minutes into flight with the Ariane 6 upper stage in a circular, 577-kilometer-altitude orbit. Experiments YPSat and Peregrinus, attached to the upper stage, were also initiated.

➡️ Three further separations were due to follow at time of first reporting. The European Space Agency official stream later reported an issue with the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) which allows the upper stage Vinci engine to reignite*.

➡️ The European Space Agency posted on X to celebrate its launch, which is part of an effort to put Europe on the map for launching satellites and distinguish it from competitors such as Elon Musk.

➡️ The launch was also celebrated by French president Emmanuel Macron, that on his account on X/Twitter, said:

This is our Space History.
This is our strategic autonomy.
It is a source of French and European pride.

The first launch of Ariane 6 is a success!

Huge congratulations to the teams who make what seems impossible possible. Mission accomplished.

🔗 Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron)

➡️ On social media, the French Armed Forces also published some photos of the Warplanes of the French Air Force following the trajectory of the rocket

🔗 European Space Agency (@esa)