The opening of the Paris Air Show after a four-year absence due to the covid highlights the competition between the American SpaceX and the ESA (European space agency) in the launcher market.
Regarding BFM Business, Josef Aschbacher, the agency’s general director, acknowledges that “we have Elon Musk and SpaceX, on the one hand, who bring a new reality to the table, which we did not have ten years ago. And now we do have to deal with this What is certain is that what we really see every week are SpaceX launches with the Falcon 9. And this is a new reality that we are facing And that is something that we in Europe, in France and in the European member states. You have to take it very seriously.”
But the official assures that Europe has cards in hand. With Ariane 6 or Vega C.
“We must put on day”
And to continue: “We have to catch up or we have to radically change the way we work. We are currently going through a pitching crisis. I have said it many times, we are not in a position of strength right now and we have to change that”
With what roadmap? “What we need to do in the field of launchers is actually relatively simple. We need to take three steps. The first, of course, is to strengthen the development of Ariane 6. We need to launch Ariane 6 as quickly as possible.”
When? The question remains “because we are going through a very critical test at the moment. Right now it means that in the next few months we will know in September what the outcome of these tests will be. We still have technical problems to solve, especially with the flight software, in which we are working to combine the flight tests, so there are certain technical elements that we have to overcome and we are doing it this summer.
Vega C back at the end of June?
Regarding the return to the flight of Vega C, Josef Aschbacher recalls that “last December we had an accident with Vega. We know perfectly well the cause of the problem. Now we’ve fixed that and now we’ll do the tests to make sure we can fly safely with Vega C again. We’re aiming for the end of this year. We have a very important test coming up at the end of June, a rapid test in Sardinia. And if that… This is conclusive, then we’re on schedule for a late June release.”
Finally, on the side of the very strategic microlaunchers, “several, including in France, but also in other countries are currently under construction. Of course, we have to go through a technical evaluation process, and if that is guaranteed, yes” . , then these new releases will come to life, press the launch pad.
Hopefully for next year or the year after. And it is a new segment that did not exist in the past and that deserves to be mentioned, without a doubt it deserves to be further developed”, underlines the manager.
The commercial question remains. Josef Aschbacher assures him: “We have a lot of contracts signed for the launches and also for Vega C, and I think that’s good news. We have the contracts, we have the launch opportunities. But now of course we have to provide the launcher for that. happen. But yeah, from that point of view, the customers are counting on us. They trust the launcher. Ariane 6 will be a fantastic launcher. We have the contracts, contracts signed by Arianespace, the agency or entity that signs or markets this launcher and we It provides as an operating entity, and yes, we have signed contracts.”
Source: BFM TV
