Europe’s Ariane 6 ready to ‘blast off’ from spaceport in Kourou

Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket is set to blast off for the first time, carrying with it the continent’s hopes of regaining independent access to space.

The inaugural flight of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) most powerful rocket is scheduled to lift off from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The planned time for liftoff was delayed by one hour to 4pm local time (19:00 GMT) after routine checks revealed a “small” data issue which has been resolved, the ESA said on X on Tuesday.

Ariane 6’s maiden flight will also carry 17 different “passengers”, including 11 university micro-satellites, as well as re-entry capsules and small scientific experiments.

Since dawn in Kourou, the vast metal structure housing the rocket has been moved away, unsheathing the 56-metre (183 feet) behemoth.

Concealed in a nearby bunker, more than 200 experts in the launch centre will scrutinise the rocket until liftoff, ready to interrupt the countdown to solve any problems, ESA’s launch base project manager Michel Rizzi told journalists. He added that they will be in constant contact with the Jupiter control room, the hub of communication between the teams – and data sent from the rocket.

A large number of armed forces will also watch over the launch, including three fighter jets.

All going well, the rocket’s two boosters and main stage engine will ignite at 4pm local time.