The rocket is scheduled for a test flight on Tuesday 9 July between 8 pm and 12 midnight European time, but has faced several holdups along the way.
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00:00An important moment for European space sovereignty.
00:04After several years of delays, the Ariane 6 rocket is making its inaugural flight.
00:10Since the retirement of Ariane 5 a year ago, Europe had been unable to put satellites into
00:14orbit.
00:15The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and various technical problems delayed Ariane 6's completion
00:22and plunged Europe into a space crisis.
00:26Europe again gets access to space, we did not have it for one year, and this is why
00:31last year I called the launch a crisis, just to make everyone aware how important it is
00:37to have access to space, to have data from our satellites on which we depend every single
00:43day, and this is fundamental for Europe.
00:49Delays have led companies like the European Weather Satellite Organization to choose Elon
00:53Musk's private company SpaceX, a competitor of the European Space Agency, to launch one
00:58of its weather prediction devices.
01:02The director-general of EU Metsat Phil Evans said the decision to use SpaceX was a result
01:07of exceptional circumstances and that they will continue to support their European partners.
01:14Despite this first setback, the future of Ariane 6 already has up to 30 orders, 18 of
01:19them which are the Amazon Kuiper's constellations.
01:23According to analysts, the launch is a first step in Europe's space strategy.
01:30The launcher at the end of the day is a means to an end, and the end is really increasing
01:35our ambition in using space, and using space obviously to the benefit of European citizens
01:41and European policymakers.
01:44Ariane 6 is the first new European model in 30 years.
01:4813 European countries were involved in its development, and it cost 4 billion Euros.