Ariane 6, Europe’s emerging rocket, is set to take off Tuesday evening from the European Spaceport, located in French Guiana. Two cutting-edge systems engineered, produced, and supplied by Réaltra, a space engineering firm in Ireland, will be on board. These systems include the VIKI video telemetry system and the GEKI global navigation satellite system.
Developed and created by ArianeGroup on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), the Ariane 6 is a satellite vehicle built collaboratively within a network of industries across 13 European nations. As a successor to prior models, Ariane 6’s mission is to ensure Europe retains independent and secure access to space. Over the next 10 years, it plans to carry out numerous space missions, including launching several payloads.
The first launch of the Ariane 6 primarily serves as a test flight but will also aim to dispatch multiple satellites, deployers, and experiments for different space agencies, research institutions, companies, and universities.
Réaltra’s designed and delivered VIKI will deliver live, high-definition telemetry imagery during the entirety of the launch mission from six cameras located on the Ariane 6. GEKI will assist in the deployment of advanced satellite navigation technology for pinpoint positioning, speed, and timing measurements.
Emer Higgins, the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, highlights the significant role of Enterprise Ireland in linking the Irish space industry and research communities for participation in European Space Agency programmes. She expresses pride for Réaltra’s involvement in the new trailblazing European rocket.. She also stresses the rigorous engineering and manufacturing standards required for working in the space industry and deems the incorporation of Réaltra’s technology in the Ariane 6 as a testament to their exceptional expertise and an inspiration for other Irish firms in the particularly specialised space market.
The engineering manager of Réaltra, Michael Martin, affirms that this success is a major milestone for the company and underlines Réaltra’s commitment to providing inventive solutions and commercial-off-the-shelf technology for space applications. Established in 2018, Réaltra has gained significant experience in delivering innovative space solutions and they are looking forward to building upon these successes.
The Irish space community, praised for its innovative and nimble attitude toward R&D, continues to be well-positioned for collaborations with European counterparts and remains competitive in the global space market, according to Padraig Doolan, the country’s representative to ESA. The choice of Réaltra technology for the Ariane 6 affirms the team’s expertise and the high standard of their space tech solutions.
Ariane 6 is the newest instalment of Europe’s independent satellite launchers: the Ariane series of rockets. The inaugural flight of the original Ariane 1 rocket was in 1979. Its predecessor, Ariane 5, completed 112 successful missions from a total of 117 attempted launches, inclusive of the James Webb Space Telescope. The Ariane 5 was retired last year, giving way to the more cost-effective Ariane 6. The launch window for Ariane 6 has been set between 7pm and 11pm.