European Space Agency - ESA’s Post

A big step forward for Europe. And a big step for sustainability in space: Ariane 6 is powered by hydrogen and oxygen only, which turn into water during combustion. 🎯🎯🎯

Europe is back to #space. The first #Ariane6 mission lifted off from French Guyana and delivered successfully multiple payloads into #orbit. Independence of #spaceaccess is of paramount importance for European #industry and #defense. #Spaceeconomy is worth more than 600 Billion dollars worldwide, with a perspective of 1.8 trillion dollars by 2035. Europe must be part of this game. Different challenges have to be faced. - One among the others: cost reduction and increment of launch rate. - One more .... being coherent with the general European "green" attitude, since space #debris, launcher #pollution, high-altitude metal #contamination are part of the game. By now, let's celebrate this important #milestone and let's get prepared for another important #challenge : "decouple economic growth from environmental degradation" (Extract from United Nations #SGD 8 Target 4). #spacepropulsion #rocket #rocketscience #environment

WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS! 🤗 It was (and still is...) a magnificent launch! The beautiful beast roared through the sky to the delight of so many friends and my own family. I've watched many launches in Les Mureaux with them and I could only wish that I could be there once more to hug and congratulate them. Ariane 6 maybe isn't the long term solution for Europe. But it is the solution of the present and one we desperately need. Europe needs its own access to space and, today, we have it again. I worked on an alternative launcher and an alternative spaceport. I defended and still defend that we need complementary solutions. Competition is good and I'd rather have European alternatives. This is not against the Ariane family, I admire and respect it too much - it is simply an additional source of technical, managerial and business innovation. It is not one versus the other, it is about enough diversity and redundancy in Europe. Let's nurture healthy competition, respect those who gave us our sovereignty, welcome newcomers and continuously innovate in Europe. We are all part of the solution. It is a great day for Europe, end of! 🚀 🎉 🎊 Let's make it the start of something bigger.

😍 My posts this week will be rather boring, as there's only one big topic on the #agenda. Enjoy watching how our #innovation flies. Kudoz to #ESOC and #Kourou teams. #spaceindustry #spacetechnology

Construction of Ariane 6 Booster Storage Building Continues

Ariane 6 will power Europe into space. Ariane 6 will make history. Standing next to the massive #Ariane6 is indescribable. I feel a wide-range of emotions as we get ready to make an impact on European history, for Europe's future, for generations of Europeans. This is just the first step, we have lots of work to do yet, but we are laser-focused on changing the future of the European space transportation ecosystem.