August 12, 2015

CNES, ESA and Airbus Safran Launchers start development of Ariane 6

The decisions taken on 2 December 2014 at the meeting of the European Space Agency (ESA) Council at ministerial level to give spacefaring Europe the launchers it needs to meet the challenges ahead were formally enshrined Wednesday 12 August. Three contracts were signed for a total of €3.4 billion, concerning development of Ariane 6 and its new launch complex, for which CNES is prime contractor, and development of Vega-C.

As the contracting authority with oversight responsibility for the Ariane 6 programme, in which it is assisted by CNES, ESA has awarded the development contract for the Ariane 6 launcher, worth close to €2.4 billion, to Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL). ESA also signed with CNES the contract to develop the Ariane 6 launch complex, ELA 4, which it will build in French Guiana to adapt facilities at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) to the new launcher. A third contract, worth €400 million, for the development of the Vega-C launcher was signed with European Launch Vehicle S.p.a. (ELV).

The ELA 4 contract is worth €600 million, with €80 million for work to be done by Guianese companies. It provides for a geographic return of 52% for France and 23% for Germany, the remainder being shared between the other participants in the Ariane 6 programme. The schedule for this project being managed by CNES’s Launch Vehicles Directorate (DLA) is very ambitious, and earthwork is already underway to accommodate the inevitable delays due to the rainy season.



Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of CNES, and Gaele Winters, ESA’s Director of Launchers. Credits: ESA–N. Imbert-Vier, 2015.

Our common goal is for Ariane 6

Detailed definition of the launch facilities will be finalized before the end of the year and CNES will issue industry requests for proposals early next year for the main technical and civil engineering work, planned for the last quarter of 2016. The facilities are scheduled to be handed over to ESA in the second half of 2019 for the start of combined tests with the launcher, while Ariane 6’s maiden flight is planned for 2020.

After the signing, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall commented: “These contracts signed today apply the decisions taken by Europe’s space ministers in Luxembourg. CNES, which was behind the proposal that spacefaring Europe should develop Ariane 6, is proud to be working alongside ESA to oversee this programme and as prime contractor in charge of the design and construction of the ELA 4 launch complex. Our common goal is for Ariane 6 to enable Europe to maintain its pre-eminent position in the space launch market.”



Earth moving works began in the Guiana Space Centre. Credits: ESA-CNES-Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG - P. Baudon.

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Contacts
Pascale Bresson    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39    pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Alain Delrieu    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 04    alain.delrieu@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37    julien.watelet@cnes.fr

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