ESA Seeks Costs to Lift Ariane 6 Launches to 15 as Europe Warns of 2030 Shortage
Updated
Updated · asiae.co.kr · Aug 10
ESA Seeks Costs to Lift Ariane 6 Launches to 15 as Europe Warns of 2030 Shortage
3 articles · Updated · asiae.co.kr · Aug 10
Summary
ESA has asked European launch manufacturers to price capacity increases after warning Europe could face a shortage of homegrown launch vehicles around 2030.
Demand is expected to peak in 2029-2031 as Europe prepares Iris², Galileo and Copernicus missions and several countries pursue their own satellite constellations.
Ariane 6 is being considered for an increase from 9-10 launches a year to about 15, with similar expansion talks under way for Vega-C.
Europe's bottleneck follows Ariane 6 production delays that created a one-year launch gap after Ariane 5's 2023 retirement, forcing reliance on SpaceX before independent access resumed in 2024.
The warning underscores how far Europe trails rivals: SpaceX launched 170 rockets last year, while Europe managed eight launches.