Godspeed! I don’t think Ariane 6 will go down in history as a successful rocket, mostly on account of the shift in economics forced on the rest of the industry by SpaceX. But I do get excited for debut launches – some very clever people worked very hard on this. :)
Outside an atmosphere like Earth’s, everything is already exposed to intense ionizing radiation from the sun/stars. A bit more from an RTG, even a big one, is a drop in the ocean. If we found signs of extraterrestrial life, then we’d want to be extra cautious about not sterilizing by accident, but that’s not currently a major concern. And of course, any sort of nuclear rocket propulsion would need to be handed with utmost care, but it’s also not a major issue once it’s outside the atmosphere.
I’m glad that a bunch of startups made the cut. It makes sense that Maiaspace got in, as an arm of Ariane, but they’re probably less strapped for cash. And thank goodness at least two have reusable concepts, PLD and Maia.
Yeah, it’s a solid bunch. We’re coming up on ten years since the first Falcon 9 booster landing. Multiple chinese companies are developing F9 clones. Europe really ought to be testing reusable boosters by now. Hopefully at least one of these will work out.
first phase began in the second half of 2024 and focused on identifying the technology maturation needs
also included an assessment of potential commercial applications
While the call did not provide much additional detail, it does note that Phase 2 will involve early long-lead technology maturation and demonstration activities.
I wonder how dual-use the technology is. A submarine-based nuclear strike capability could be useful to a country in Poland’s location, as could the hint of one, or the suggestion of being able to contribute to a joint European one.
I would suggest that this project, that is part ran by the Military Institute of Armament Technology, is not particularly dual use - in that the research benefit of suborbital single stage rockets is vanishingly slim. It is however immediately apparent how much military utility such a launch system has…
Edit: actually on reflection its research capability has become clear to me - it will be extremely useful for researchers who are trying to advance the technology in the fields of ICBM guidance, control, navigation, targeting etc modules.
esa
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