San Francisco Frontiers - European rocket successfully carries out first commercial mission

After several delays including a last-minute postponement on Monday, the heavy-lift rocket blasted off into rainy skies from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana just before 1:30 pm local time (1630 GMT).

Around an hour after the launch, the control centre burst into applause as the rocket released the satellite into orbit, marking a successful mission.

The high-profile launch comes as Europe seeks to strengthen its defences amid doubts it can still rely on the United States as a security partner under new US President Donald Trump.

The success means that Europe can now independently put large satellites into orbit for the first time since Russia pulled its heavy Soyuz rockets after invading Ukraine in 2022.

Ariane 6 was initially scheduled to have its first flight in 2020, but repeated delays meant the rocket did not blast off for the first time until July last year.

Its first commercial mission put the CSO-3 satellite into orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometres (500 miles) above Earth.

CSO-3 has been waiting since 2022 to complete a network of three French military imaging satellites, with the first two launched in 2018 and 2020 on Soyuz rockets.

- 'Europe must ensure its own security' -

Europe has just 10 military satellites -- five French and five Italian -- compared to "hundreds" for the United States and China, French General Philippe Steininger said.

"Europe must ensure its own security," the European Space Agency's space transportation director Toni Tolker-Nielsen said in Kourou earlier this week.

He called for the number of annual Ariane 6 launches to increase to 12, compared to the five planned for this year.

A previous attempt to launch the mission on Monday was called off just 30 minutes before launching due to a dysfunctional valve on one of the refuelling pipes, Arianespace said.

Other planned launches in December and February were also scrubbed.

Postponed launches are common for new rockets. The latest test flight of the world's biggest rocket, SpaceX's Starship, is also scheduled for launch later Thursday after a last-minute postponement on Monday.

The European space industry has struggled to remain competitive with Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has become increasingly dominant when it comes to launching satellites.

And SpaceX is only expected to become more central to US space efforts now that the billionaire Musk has become a prominent advisor to Trump.

- 'Important step' -

Europe recently found itself without a way to independently launch missions into space due to the Ariane 6 delays.

Its predecessor Ariane 5 retired in 2023, Russia pulled its Soyuz rockets and an accident grounded the smaller Vega-C launcher for two years.

But with Vega-C resuming flights in December and Ariane 6's first commercial launch, European space efforts are hoping to turn a page on the crisis.

Given the military role of the satellite, heavy security was deployed at the spaceport on the northern coast of South America, with French fighter jets deployed to patrol the surrounding skies.

Arnaud Prost, a French pilot who is also a reserve astronaut for the European Space Agency, learned that Monday's launch was scrubbed while he was flying a surveillance plane above the launchpad.

"At the moment, Europe needs to find projects that bring us together," he said.

"Space exploration is a unique opportunity to do this."

bur-fro-cho-dl/rlp

Z.Sanchez--SFF