Europe's Ariane 6 rocket launch rescheduled after last-minute delay
The first commercial mission of Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 has been rescheduled for Thursday, French company Arianespace announced, after an "anomaly" forced a last-minute postponement.
The already twice-delayed rocket was slated to lift off Monday, but had to be delayed after the discovery of a dysfunctional valve, News.Az reports, AFP.
igh-profile mission aims to carry a French military satellite into orbit, as well as more broadly to establish independent European access to space, without reliance on either the United States or Russia.
It comes as Europe's commercial space industry struggles to remain competitive in the face of Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Initially planned for December, the Ariane 6 mission was pushed back until February 26 and then again to March 3 because of problems getting the satellite to the launchpad.
After further evaluating the ground equipment, Arianespace said it is now targeting a launch on "March 6, 2025 at 1:24 pm local time in Kourou" (1624 GMT).
"Ariane 6 and its passenger, the CSO-3 satellite, are in stable and safe conditions," the company said in a statement.
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