Insider Brief:
- Charlotte Lang, head of public affairs for Arianespace, has called for new legislation to ensure that European missions are launched aboard European rockets.
- The final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket in July 2023, the grounding of the Vega C in December 2022, and the end of Soyuz launches from Kourou have left Europe without its own access to space.
- However, things are looking up, with the Ariane 6 rocket expected to be ready for launch within weeks, and the Vega C set to return to flight by the end of the year.
At the recent European Space Forum, Charlotte Lang, head of public affairs for Arianespace, called for new legislation to ensure that European missions are launched aboard European rockets. Speaking during the “Ensuring Long Term Autonomous Access to Space for Europe” panel, Lang reportedly emphasized the need for the EU to prioritize its own launchers for all missions.
“The EU should enforce the principle of European launcher preference,” Lang stated, pushing for a policy that mandates European missions be launched from European territory using European technology. Arianespace reiterated this stance, pointing to the EU’s upcoming IRIS² satellite constellation as a key opportunity to implement such legislation.
Europe’s launch capabilities have faced many challenges over the past year. The final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket in July 2023, the grounding of the Vega C in December 2022, and the end of Soyuz launches from Kourou have left Europe without its own access to space. This situation was starkly highlighted when a pair of Galileo satellites, crucial for European navigation, were launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from the United States in April 2024. Historically, all Galileo satellites, except for two test satellites, have been launched from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.
However, things are looking up, with the Ariane 6 rocket expected to be ready for launch within weeks, and the Vega C set to return to flight by the end of the year. These developments aim to restore Europe’s independent access to space. Several commercial European launch providers are also preparing for their first flights, which will further enhance this capacity.
Image credit: ESA
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