Arianespace sets 23 November for Ariane 6 return to flight
Arianespace says Ariane 6 will return to flight no earlier than 23 November with 36 Amazon Leo satellites.
Arianespace announced the next Ariane 6 launch will take place no earlier than 23 November. This marks the rocket's return to flight after ground testing reportedly revealed an issue with one of its turbopumps. The flight will carry 36 Amazon Leo satellites aboard an Ariane 64, the rocket's four-booster configuration.
The 14 October announcement followed a report from French newspaper La Tribune a day earlier. It claimed ArianeGroup had resolved an anomaly affecting a liquid hydrogen turbopump, first detected during an engine acceptance test shortly before summer. An ArianeGroup spokesperson declined to address the report directly, instead pointing to the newly announced launch date.
The mission had previously been targeted for no earlier than 7 October, according to a provisional schedule published by the French space agency CNES. This suggests the turbopump issue delayed the launch by almost seven weeks. In September, ArianeGroup and Arianespace did not explicitly confirm the turbopump issue but said the rocket's remaining 2026 mission schedule would need adjusting while additional checks were carried out on the production line.
Arianespace had expected to conduct seven or eight Ariane 6 launches in 2026. With the return to flight now scheduled for late November, it is unlikely to conduct more than one additional flight this year, bringing the expected total to six. The final Ariane 6 flight of 2026 is expected to carry the MetOp-SG-B1 weather satellite for EUMETSAT. A company spokesperson confirmed Arianespace still targets nine to ten Ariane 6 launches in 2027.
Sourceeuropeanspaceflight.com