ESA-M. Pedoussaut
In a surprise announcement this generation, the ECU intergovernmental group responsible for launching and operating the continent’s climate satellites has called off its venture following Europe’s current launch on an untested Ariane 6 rocket. Rather, the trusted MTG-S1 satellite will now succeed in geostationary orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in 2025.
Eumetsat Group Director General Phil Evans said, “This decision was driven by exceptional circumstances.” “This does not compromise our standard policy of supporting European partners, and we look forward to a successful SpaceX launch of this masterpiece of European technology.”
The decision, taken at a council meeting of Eumetsat’s 30 member states on Wednesday and Thursday, comes less than two weeks before the launch of the Ariane 6 rocket on July 9.
stabbed in the back
Externally, at least, this choice reflects a lack of confidence in the reliability of the Ariane 6 rocket, the ability of the ECU companies ArianeGroup and Arianespace to build current versions of the Ariane 6, or both. This comes not only on the eve of the long-awaited debut of Ariane 6, but also in a year when ECU officials are trying to rank up and ensure that satellites built in Europe are launched on ECU rockets. Let’s do.
The resignation of the Ariane 5 rocket at the end of July, and the delay of several years in the preparation of the Ariane 6 rocket, have resulted in a painful period during which EU officials had to play hand-in-hand with their long-time rival and enemy. Is. Rocket business for core products and services, SpaceX. As a result, some of Europe’s most promising missions, including the Euclid Field Telescope and several other Galileo satellites, have already been launched aboard the Falcon 9.
This has been quite an embarrassment to ECU Origins officials, who successfully floated the idea of ”commercial” sector origination with the primary Ariane rocket several years ago. For an extended year, they, along with Russia, have been the kings of launching satellites of the alternative nation. However now, on the eve of restoring access to the box to the ECU, Eumetsat has successfully stabbed this industry in the back.
It is not very strong in either language. In its fallout, Eumetsat described its untouched Meteosat 3rd Pace-Sounder 1 satellite TV as a “unique masterpiece of European technology”. “This first European sounding satellite in geostationary orbit will bring a revolution to weather forecasting and climate monitoring in Europe and Africa, and will, for the first time, make it possible to observe the full lifecycle of a convective storm from space,” the group said. .” Indeed, Eumetsat was not eager to hand over this spacecraft to Europe’s untouched flagship rocket.
Philippe Baptiste, president and chief executive of French regional company CNES, no doubt felt the edge, calling the decision a “brutal change” and saying it was a “disappointing day” for the ECU region’s efforts.
“I am eagerly waiting to understand what reasons Eumetsat might have taken such a decision, at a time when all major European space countries as well as the European Commission are calling for European satellites to be launched on European launchers. Are!” Baptiste wrote on LinkedIn. “Not to mention the fact that we are 10 days away from the first flight of the Ariane 6. How far will we, the Europeans, go in our naivety?”
Why did you do it?
It is difficult to fully understand Eumetsat’s motivations for this decision. Most likely, there would have been some consideration of timing and reliability. The MTG-S1 satellite originated during the third flight of an Ariane 6 rocket, with the project nominally scheduled for early 2025. This timeline will likely require the satellite to be fielded for much longer than it is now for the Falcon 9.
However, since this 4-ton satellite goes into geostationary orbit, it will be the first project to require the utility of a more robust version of the Ariane 6 rocket. Instead of using two solid-rocket boosters, this “64” version of the rocket uses four solid-rocket boosters. It seems most likely that Eumetsat officials had in mind that this launch timeline would be stretched and possibly also had some enterprise commitment considerations regarding the primary origin of the Ariane 64 rocket.
Whatever their reasons, ECU Satellite officials have placed a big bet in the punch bowl in celebration of the Ariane 6 rocket’s debut.