The twenty-two member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) have agreed to provide “financial support” in order to ensure the economic viability and competitiveness of the Ariane-6 rocket, strategic for autonomous access to the Europe to space, announced its director general, Josef Aschbacher.
This agreement includes an annual subsidy to finance the economic balance of the rocket from its 16th to its 42nd flight, which corresponds to the launches planned from 2026 until 2030. The financial balance of the first fifteen flights was already ensured by a previous agreement.
For the small Italian Vega-C rocket, grounded after an accident in December 2022, state subsidies could reach 21 million euros annually from the 26th to the 42nd flight, according to Mr. Aschbacher. These subsidies should ensure that the two rockets can face fierce international competition, in particular from the American SpaceX, which alone launches nearly two rockets per week.
In addition to the subsidy, the ESA has for its part committed to purchasing four so-called “institutional” flights per year from Ariane-6 and three from Vega-C to put European satellites into orbit. Ariane-6 is due to make its first flight in 2024, four years late. This delay, combined with inflation, was a source of “considerable additional costs”, according to a source close to the matter.
“Decisive turning point in European space history”
This agreement constitutes “a great relief”, confided Mr. Aschbacher during a press conference, as the positions of the main contributing countries were so opposed. Paris pleaded for such support for Ariane-6 and Rome for similar support for Vega-C, while Berlin denounced a “bankruptcy of the system” and demanded that European launchers be put into competition.
In total, the ESA member states have agreed to change the model for the next generation of launchers by putting future launchers into competition, which should allow the emergence of microlaunchers and minilaunchers. In return for this maximum annual subsidy of 340 million euros for Ariane-6, the manufacturers responsible for the program, first and foremost ArianeGroup, have committed to reducing their costs by 11%, announced the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, during a conference call.
The approval of the twenty-two members of the ESA was made possible by a prior agreement between Paris, Berlin and Rome, its three main contributors, he explained, recalling that SpaceX for its part sold its flights to the American government three to four times more expensive than its flights for the commercial market. “This agreement is a major subject and marks a decisive turning point in European space history,” welcomed the French minister.
According to him, it makes it possible to “preserve European unity on the strategic question of access to space” while opening a “new era for European launchers, an era of innovation and competitiveness”. Avio, the Italian manufacturer of the Vega-C rocket, has also obtained a long-standing claim to be able to market Vega-C flights itself, which have until now been operated by Arianespace, a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, according to the trilateral agreement consulted by Agence France-Presse.