A European Ariane-5 missile completes the final launch

The Ariane-5, Europe’s heavy rocket, has launched its final mission.

The vehicle, which has powered the continent’s access to space for nearly three decades, ended its career by using two communications satellites.

It is generally agreed that he was a very successful shooter, having suffered only two outright failures in 117 flights.

But the retirement of the Ariane-5 leaves Europe in a difficult position, with no replacement ready to take over.

The next generation missile, the Ariane 6, is still in the development and testing phase and may not be launched until next year.

Complicating matters, Europe can no longer use Russia’s Soyuz missiles, and its smaller vehicle, the Vega C, has been grounded after a flight failure last December.

The lack of home-made rockets prompted ESA Director-General Josef Ashbacher to state recently that “Europe finds itself … in an acute crisis in launchers.”

Wednesday’s final mission was conducted, as usual, from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

The two “passengers” on board were a French defense satellite, named Syracuse 4B, and a German demonstration spacecraft named Heinrich Hertz.

Ariane’s aircraft moved away at the beginning of the launch window at 19:00 local time (22:00 GMT; 23:00 GMT).

Dr. Achbacher said the Ariane-5 will be remembered as a remarkable vehicle.

“The performance and accuracy of Ariane 5 was absolutely unique, but I am convinced that Ariane 6 will have the same performance and the same accuracy once it is on the launch pad,” he told BBC News.

The injection into orbit was so precise that the observatory didn’t have to use any of its own propellant for course correction, effectively doubling its expected operational life from 10 to 20 years.

A new European heavy-lift rocket has been launched because the cost of producing an Ariane-5 has become unsustainable in the face of American competition.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX revolutionized the launch market with its reusable Falcon, which lowered the price of the Ariane.

The Ariane-6 is supposed to be at least 40% cheaper than the Ariane-5, but it remains a “expendable” design: a new missile is needed on each mission.

Europe is moving towards reuse, but the technologies needed won’t be in service until 2030.

Meanwhile, Musk offers larger rockets that promise to lower launch prices even further.

Wednesday’s final Ariane-5 flight went flawlessly, with the launch of Heinrich Hertz and Syracuse 4B on trajectory to geostationary orbit about half an hour after leaving Earth.

Ariane-5 retired after carrying more than 230 satellites into orbit, the equivalent of 1,000 tons of equipment.

In addition to James Webb, notable assignments have included launching the Comet Chaser Rosetta (2004); Giant Environmental Monitor Invisat (2002); space station cargo ship 20 tons, ATV (2008); and most recently, Jupiter’s moons Europa explorer, JUICE (2023).

The rocket was designed in the 1980s as a means of launching an astronaut shuttle called Hermes. This plan was abandoned due to cost, and the vehicle entered service in 1996 only for overhead satellites.

For most of her career, she has been launching half of the large communications satellites.