European rocket launch takes aim at SpaceX

livemint.com:

PARIS : A new European rocket is poised to blast into space with a mission officials here say is vitally important: reducing the region’s reliance on Elon Musk and SpaceX. Europe’s satellites and military intelligence have come to depend on the U.S. company after delays and malfunctions left the continent unable to get to orbit with its own rockets.

Officials fear that dependence could extend to the battlefield: SpaceX’s Starlink internet service has been crucial for Ukraine to fight off Russia, fanning worries in Europe that its armies might also need Musk for satellite communications in a war. Governments say the Ariane 6 rocket, operated by the European consortium Arianespace, will begin to change that equation. It is set to lift off from French Guiana on Tuesday, Europe’s first rocket to launch in a year.

“Clearly, we must deliver. We must restore autonomous access to space" for Europe, Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, said in an interview. With European rockets stuck on the ground, SpaceX stepped in to fill the void.

Its Falcon 9 rocket has launched all of Europe’s most important satellites over the past year, including two that were supposed to be handled by Arianespace. The most recent blow came last month when Europe’s weather-satellite agency canceled a contract to launch next year with Ariane 6 and hired SpaceX instead. The decision left European space officials crestfallen, with the head of the French space agency saying: “How far will we, Europeans, go in our naivety?" SpaceX is the leading U.S.