The European Space Agency (ESA) announced its Ariane 6, a heavy-lift launch system developed by the ArianeGroup (a joint venture between Airbus and Safran) is set for its first launch in Q4 2023 pending the achievement of three key milestones.

According to ESA’s Director General Joseph Aschbacer, Ariane 6 will need to successfully complete the upper stage hot firing test and the hot firing test of the core stage with its Vulcan 2.1 engine as well as the start of launch system qualification review, before April 2023, in order to launch in Q4 2023.

According to ArianeGroup's chief executive, the group’s European supply chain is already ramping up production for regular Ariane 6 flights with plans to ship the first flight model of Ariane 6 to French Guiana at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.

Analyst QuickTake: The Ariane 6 launch vehicle is a European expendable launch system developed for ESA by prime contractor ArianeGroup along with several hundred companies in 13 European countries. The series of delays from its originally scheduled launch in 2020 has added to the costs of the program which were initially estimated to be ~EUR 4 billion. The launch vehicle drastically reduces production costs through new fabrication techniques and upgraded technology but is still more expensive than SpaceX’s Falcon as it’s not reusable. Since its predecessor, Ariane 5 is no longer in production (and its remaining 3 missions are fully booked), this delay will add to the difficulties of European satellite operators to find rides to orbit, given its current sanctions with Russia also reduce launch options.