Ariane 6 is ready for takeoff: Europe hopes to end 'launcher crisis' • FRANCE 24 English

After four years of delays, Europe's Ariane 6 rocket is finally ready for takeoff. Installed on its brand new launch pad in French Guiana, it carried out its final "complete dress rehearsal" at the end of June before its inaugural launch scheduled for this Tuesday. Ariane 6 is expected to give Europe independent access to space again and to compete against American companies that have disrupted the industry, such as SpaceX.  FRANCE 24's Julia Sieger tells us more.

[ShadowRaptor]

More than a decade later, ArianeSpace is still trying to shake off Richard Bowles' deeply condescending comments about how SpaceX was "selling a dream" and wasting his time "talking about unrealistic goals". Now who's selling the dream? Ariane keeps saying Europe's launch cadence doesn't support reusability, but at the same time there's not enough launch capability for even Galileo or ESA flagship missions, so they're turning to SpaceX.

[engineeranonymous]

Ariane 6 is an example of Europe. Expensive, late, bureaucratic, not innovative, built to generate jobs and to give illusion Europe is just behind competition.

[pratapterang]

Congratulations European Space Agency 🎉

[jt]

Ariane 6. Obsolete before its first launch. Well done europe 🤦

[tomaburque]

If we didn't waste so much money on the ISS, we could be planning for and launching the next generation of bigger and better space telescopes and solar system probes.

[gaelicreaction]

It's not pronounced "Aryan".

[tukaidas]

Aryan is ainceint name for indians lol