ESA-M. Pédoussaut
The European intergovernmental organization responsible for launching and operating the continent’s weather satellites announced this week that its next mission will not be launched by the new European Ariane 6 rocket. The precious MTG-S1 satellite will now reach the geostationary orbit of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in 2025.
“This decision was prompted by exceptional circumstances,” said Phil Evans, CEO of the Eumetsat organization. “It does not compromise our usual policy of supporting European partners, and we hope that SpaceX will successfully launch this masterpiece of European technology. »
The decision, taken at a meeting of Eumetsat’s 30-member council on Wednesday and Thursday, comes less than two weeks before the launch of the Ariane 6 rocket, scheduled for July 9.
Stabbed in the back
On the surface, at least, the move reflects a lack of confidence in the reliability of the Ariane 6 rocket, in the ability of European companies ArianeGroup and Arianespace to produce future versions of the Ariane 6, or in both. It comes not only on the eve of the long-awaited Ariane 6 launch, but also at a time when European officials are trying to close ranks and ensure that satellites built in Europe are launched on European rockets.
The withdrawal of the Ariane 5 rocket last July and the years of delay in preparing the Ariane 6 rocket led to a painful period during which European officials had to call on their long-time competitor and sworn enemy of rocket industry, SpaceX, for launch services. As a result, some of Europe’s most valuable missions, including the Euclid space telescope and several Galileo satellites, have already been launched aboard the Falcon 9.
This situation has already been embarrassing enough for European launch managers, who effectively created the concept of “commercial” space launches with the first Ariane rockets several decades ago. For a long time, they were, alongside Russia, the kings of launching foreign satellites. But today, on the eve of restoring European access to space, Eumetsat has in fact stabbed this industry in the back.
This is not too strong language either. In its statement, Eumetsat described its new Meteosat Third Generation-Sounder 1 satellite as a “unique masterpiece of European technology.” The organization added: “This first European sounding satellite in geostationary orbit will revolutionize weather forecasting and climate monitoring in Europe and Africa and will, for the first time, allow the complete life cycle of a convective storm to be observed from space.” It is important to note that Eumetsat was not willing to hand over this spacecraft to Europe’s new flagship rocket.
Philippe Baptiste, president and CEO of French space agency CNES, certainly felt the pain, calling the decision a “brutal change” and saying it was a “disappointing day” for European space efforts.
“I am eagerly awaiting to understand what reasons could have led Eumetsat to such a decision, at a time when all the major European space countries as well as the European Commission are demanding the launch of European satellites on European launchers!” Baptiste wrote on LinkedIn. “Not to mention the fact that we are 10 days away from the inaugural flight of Ariane 6. How far will we, Europeans, go in our naivety?”
Why did they do this?
It is difficult to fully understand Eumetsat’s motivations in this decision. Most likely there were timing and reliability issues. The MTG-S1 satellite was scheduled to be launched on the third flight of the Ariane 6 rocket, a mission theoretically planned for early 2025. On this timeline, the satellite would most likely have reached space faster than it otherwise would on a Falcon 9. .
However, as this 4-ton satellite is intended to be placed in geostationary orbit, it would be the first mission to require the use of a more powerful version of the Ariane 6 rocket. Instead of using two thrusters powder, this “64” version of the rocket uses four powder propellants. It seems likely that Eumetsat officials were concerned that the schedule for this launch would drag on and that it might be the first launch of an Ariane 64 rocket.
Whatever their reasons, European satellite officials threw a huge turd in the punch bowl during the Ariane 6 launch festivities.
News Source : arstechnica.com
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