Ariane 6, the new heavy-lift rocket developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), launched into space from the Korou spaceport in French Guyana at 21:00 CET on July 9 2024 – an hour later than scheduled. According to an ESA press release, the inaugural flight was primarily for demonstration purposes.

“A completely new rocket is not launched often, and success is far from guaranteed,” says ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher. The start of the new generation of Ariane rockets is “effectively reinstating European access to space”.

Ariane 6 is more powerful than previous generations of rockets. It can reignite multiple times and is therefore suitable for transporting several payloads, which could include satellite constellations. However, the upper stage did not ignite on the first launch.

According to ESA documentation, companies from 13 European countries were involved in the Ariane 6 project. Representing Switzerland, Zurich-based Beyond Gravity, APCO from Aigle in the canton of Vaud and Franke from Aarburg in the canton of Aargau contributed components.

Beyond Gravity was responsible for the rocket’s payload fairings, which protect the satellites housed in the cargo as the rocket passes through the Earth’s atmosphere during launch. “We are proud to have been a close partner to ArianeGroup for decades and to continue our joint success story also for the next generation of launch vehicles. Over the years, Beyond Gravity has manufactured more than 250 payload fairings for the Ariane launcher rockets and was instrumental in the development of the new payload fairing for Ariane 6,” says André Wall, CEO of Beyond Gravity, in a press release issued by the company.

APCO produced the booster attachments and the booster nose cap. These attachments had to withstand a thrust of 270 tons during takeoff. APCO was also involved in providing the Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (MGSE) for the launch of Ariane 6.

Franke provided the nozzle extension that channels energy to the engine.

According to the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the costs of the Ariane 6 project amount to around €4 billion, with Switzerland contributing 2.4% of this total. The funds invested enable services in areas such as communication, navigation and earth observation, which also benefit the Swiss economy and population.

The Open-i innovation conference on 21 and 22 November in Zurich will deal with space travel for the Swiss economy in various formats. Thomas Zurbuchen will appear as a speaker. He is Professor of Space Science and Technology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and Director of ETH Zurich | Space. The Canton of Zurich will also be organising a deep dive session on this topic. The democratisation of space travel through privatisation and the potential of the space ecosystem for Zurich as a business location will be discussed.

Open-I describes itself as the Swiss innovation community and dialogue platform for the economy and the science sector. The conference aims to bring together academic and economic experts to secure Switzerland's leading role as an innovative and successful market. Open-i is organised by NZZ Connect, a branch of the NZZ based in Bern. Tickets are available now. ce/ww

Switzerland contributes technology to Ariane 6

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