The Ariane 6 rocket, Europe’s latest launch vehicle, successfully deployed a high-resolution reconnaissance satellite into orbit on its first operational flight. The 184-foot-tall rocket lifted off from French Guiana’s Kourou spaceport at 11:24 am EST, powered by twin solid-fueled boosters and a hydrogen-fueled core stage engine.
The rocket shed its strap-on boosters two minutes after liftoff and jettisoned its core stage eight minutes later. The spent rocket parts fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The upper stage’s Vinci engine ignited twice to reach a nearly circular polar orbit at 500 miles above the Earth.
About an hour after launch, the Ariane 6 upper stage deployed CSO-3, a French military spy satellite designed for optical surveillance imagery. CEO David Cavaillolès praised the mission as “an absolute pleasure” and hailed it as a success for Europe and France’s autonomous access to space. This is the second flight of the Ariane 6 rocket, following a mostly successful debut launch last July.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/when-europe-needed-it-most-the-ariane-6-rocket-finally-delivered