Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket is expected to take off for the first time next week, but it will be launched into a rapidly changing market for heavy space launchers increasingly dominated by SpaceX.
Here are some of the other big rockets competing for the lucrative job of carrying satellites and other missions into space.
-Ariane 6-
The first flight of the European Space Agency’s largest rocket launcher is scheduled from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on July 9.
It will replace the Ariane 5 rocket, which in 2023 carried out the last of 117 launches in almost three decades.
When Ariane 6 is launched with two boosters, it will be capable of carrying 4.5 tons of payload – such as satellites – into a geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above Earth. Satellites in geostationary orbit follow the Earth’s rotation, so they appear fixed in a certain location.
It will also be capable of carrying more than 10 tons into low Earth orbit, just hundreds of kilometers high. Unlike geostationary orbits, objects in low Earth orbit, including the International Space Station, revolve around the world much faster and do not appear fixed.
This lower region will house 85% of the satellites that will be launched by 2032, according to the company Euroconsult.
When Ariane 6 is launched with four boosters, scheduled for next year, it will be capable of delivering 11.5 tons to geostationary orbit and 21.6 tons to low Earth orbit.
It will also be capable of deploying constellations of satellites in different orbits thanks to the reusable Vinci engine in its upper stage.
However, the rest of the rocket is not reusable, unlike its main competitor, billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9.
– Falcon 9, starship –
The Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket that has come to dominate the market. Since 2010, it has launched 350 times, including 91 last year — two-thirds of which were to SpaceX’s own Starlink satellite internet constellation.
The Falcon 9 can carry more than eight tons into geostationary orbit and nearly 23 tons into low-Earth orbit.
Competitor Arianespace accuses SpaceX of charging the US government and NASA a premium price to use the Falcon 9, which allows the US company to offer low prices to its other commercial customers.
Also in SpaceX’s stable of rockets is the larger and more powerful Falcon Heavy.
And it is working on the huge Starship rocket, the most powerful ever built, which it plans to carry up to 150 tons in its reusable form and 250 tons when it is not reusable.
After three previous test flights ended with the Starship exploding, last month the rocket held together and successfully crashed for the first time.
-New Glenn-
After years of delays, the first flight of Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn is scheduled for September, according to its first customer, NASA.
The rocket is nearly 100 meters (330 feet) tall, compared to the 62-meter height of the Ariane 6. It will be capable of carrying 13 tons to geostationary orbit and 45 tons to low-Earth orbit.
The US company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is keeping quiet about its backlog, but the rocket is expected to help launch Amazon’s Kuiper satellite internet constellation.
– Vulcan Centaur –
United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, launched its Vulcan Centaur rocket for the first time in January.
It should replace the company’s Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, America’s favorites for institutional launches.
The rocket, which has reusable engines, can have up to six propellants, delivering more than 15 tons to geostationary orbit and more than 27 tons to low Earth orbit.
-H3-
Japan’s new flagship H3 rocket made its maiden flight in February. It can have up to four thrusters and launch 6.5 tons into geostationary orbit.
– Angara A5 –
The Russian replacement for its aging Proton rockets was first launched in 2014 – but a test flight in April was only the fourth since then.
It can deliver 5.4 tons to geostationary orbit and 24.5 tons to low Earth orbit.
– Long March 5th –
China’s Long March 5 has been launched 12 times since 2016. It can carry 14 tons to geostationary orbit and 25 tons to low-Earth orbit.
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