Yesterday, July 9, 2024, Ariane 6 made its first flight. An emotion for us who are proud to have participated in this adventure. Given the thrust, imagine what had to be built underneath! We carried out the entire supply and installation of the civil engineering reinforcements. The work lasted 40 months, from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2019. In total, 6,870 tonnes of reinforcement were supplied and installed. Just like 20,456 couplers. More than 60 “armaturiers” were employed on the peak site. (Client: Eiffage)
Ariane 6, which is a little higher than Ariane 5 (62 meters) but retains its diameter (5.4 meters). Its mass is between 530 and 860 tonnes depending on the version. Like Ariane 5, the new launcher has two stages using cryogenic propellants (liquid oxygen and hydrogen). The first stage is powered by an optimized version of the Vulcain rocket engine (135 tons of thrust) and the second by a new, more efficient Vinci engine (18 tons of thrust) that can be restarted. At takeoff and during the first two minutes of flight, thrust is provided primarily by solid propellant thrusters with an average unit thrust of 350 tons.
Photos: ESA/CNES/Arianespace-ArianeGroup/Optique Vidéo du CSG
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