ESA Rideshares - Demo Flight

Launch Partial Failure

Liftoff Time (GMT)

19:00:00

Tuesday July 9, 2024

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Mission Details

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Launch Notes

First flight of Ariane 6, first flight from the ELA-4 launch pad. Launch was nominal from liftoff to in-orbit micro-satellite payloads separation, but during subsequent coasting phase the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) failed while firing, preventing de-orbit burn from happening and stranding the 2 customer re-entry capsules in orbit.

GRBBeta

Wiki

2U CubeSat for testing technologies to improve Gamma Ray Burst detection by Spacemanic and the Technical University of Kosice.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

1 kilograms

SpaceCase SC-X01

Wiki

Test re-entry capsule for reentry technologies such as new-generation ablative materials for thermal protection systems for the ArianeGroup.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

40 kilograms

ISTSAT-1

Wiki

1U CubeSat for characterisation of aircraft’s ‘cone of silence’ and in-flight performances of a custom-made Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system for the University of Lisbon.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

1 kilograms

3Cat4

Wiki

1U CubeSat for the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya for testing of various payloads including atmospheric/ocean measurements with GNSS reflectometry and an L-band radiometer, a spring like antenna and an AIS ship tracking system.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

1 kilograms

OOV-Cube

Wiki

Microsatellite by Technical University of Berlin and RapidCubes for testing various technologies including Internet-of-Things (IoT) communication technologies for agriculture use and image processing in orbit using Artificial Intelligence.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

10 kilograms

CuriumOne

Wiki

12U amateur radio cubesat by Planetary Transportation Systems and Libre Space Foundation testing various radio systems.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

18 kilograms

Nyx Bikini

Wiki

Test re-entry capsule by The Exploration Company to test atmospheric reentry techniques for future cargo resupply spacecraft designs.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

Robusta-3A

Wiki

3U Cubesat from University Space Center of Montpellier for testing GNSS reflectometry techniques for mapping atmospheric water vapour.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

Replicator

Wiki

3U cubesat by RIDE!space / Orbital Matter for testing 3D printing polymer materials in orbit.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

CURIE A & B

Wiki

Two 3U cubesats from NASA to study radio burst emissions from solar eruptive events such as flares and coronal mass ejections in the inner heliosphere.

Low Earth Orbit

2 Payloads

Non-deployed experiments

Wiki

* PariSat (GAREF) * Peregrinus (Sint-Pieterscollege) * LIFI (OLEDCOMM) * SIDLOC (Libre Space) * YPSat (ESA)

Low Earth Orbit

5 Payloads

Rocket

Active
Ariane 62

Active Since 2024

European Space Agency logo

Agency

ESA

Price

$88.00 million

Rocket

Diameter: 5.4m

Height: 62m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 10,350 kg

GTO: 4,500 kg

Liftoff Thrust

8,370 Kilonewtons

Fairing

Diameter: 5.4m

Height: 20m

Stages

2

Strap-ons

2

Launch Site

General Trajectory

Launching

Northeast

ELA-4

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

Fastest Turnaround

239 days 21 hours

Stats

Ariane 6


1st

Mission

1st

Mission of 2024

European Space Agency


15th

Mission

1st

Mission of 2024

2024


130th

Orbital launch attempt