Europe’s powerful new Ariane 6 rocket will not launch as scheduled today due to issues with ground operations. The launch was supposed to send a French spy satellite into space, but the liftoff has been scrubbed just before 11 am ET.
Arianespace, the company operating the Ariane 6 on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), announced that “further operations needed” were required for the launcher. A new launch date has not yet been announced.
The Ariane 6 is the successor to the Ariane 5 rocket and was developed after a six-year delay, with its first successful flight taking place in July last year. The rocket’s second mission was originally planned for last year but was postponed due to technical issues.
The spy satellite, CSO-3, will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit about 500 miles above Earth, where it will provide consistent lighting conditions for surveillance and weather monitoring. This type of orbit is popular with military and weather satellites.
Arianespace will announce the new launch date once further operations are completed. The rocket’s launch can be watched live on Space.com or directly via Arianespace.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/europe-ariane-6-rocket-second-launch-cso-3-french-spy-satellite