ESA-M. Pedso
In a shocking announcement this week, the European intergovernmental organization responsible for launching and operating weather satellites for the continent has removed its next mission from a future launch on Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket. Instead, the prized MTG-S1 satellite will reach geostationary orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2025.
“This decision was brought about by exceptional circumstances.” Said “This is not contrary to our standard policy of supporting our European partners and we look forward to a successful SpaceX launch of this spacecraft, a masterpiece of European technology,” Eumetsat Director General Phil Evans said.
The decision was made at a meeting of EumetSat’s 30-member council on Wednesday and Thursday, just under two weeks before the Ariane 6 rocket’s scheduled debut on July 9.
Stabbed in the back
On the surface, at least, the decision reflects a lack of confidence in the reliability of the Ariane 6 rocket, the ability of the European companies Arianegroup and Arianespace to manufacture future versions of Ariane 6, or both. It comes not only on the eve of Ariane 6’s long-awaited debut, but also at a time when European authorities are united in their efforts to ensure that European-made satellites are launched on European rockets.
The retirement of the Ariane 5 rocket last July and years of delays in preparing the Ariane 6 rocket have forced European officials to work with longtime rocket industry rival and nemesis SpaceX on launch services. As a result, some of Europe’s most valuable missions have already been launched on Falcon 9s, including the Euclid Space Telescope and several Galileo satellites.
This was embarrassing enough for the European launch operators who practically invented the concept of “commercial” space launches decades ago with the first Ariane rockets, and who had long been the champions of foreign satellite launches alongside Russia. But now, just as Europe’s access to space was about to be restored, EumetSat has effectively betrayed the industry.
Again, not very strong words. In its announcement, EumetSat described its new Meteosat third-generation Sounder-1 satellite as “a unique masterpiece of European technology.” The organization added that “this first European exploration satellite in geostationary orbit will revolutionize weather forecasting and climate monitoring in Europe and Africa, making it possible for the first time to observe the entire life cycle of convective storms from space.” Importantly, EumetSat did not intend to commit the spacecraft to Europe’s new flagship rocket.
Philippe Baptiste, president and CEO of France’s space agency CNES, said he was hurt by the decision, calling it a “brutal change” and a “sad day” for Europe’s space program.
“I impatiently wait to understand what led EumetSat to take this decision at a time when the leading European space-faring countries and the European Commission are calling for European satellites to be launched on European rockets!” Batiste wrote on LinkedIn“Just 10 days until the first flight of Ariane 6, how ignorant can Europeans remain?”
Why did they do this?
It’s hard to fully understand EumetSat’s motivations for this decision. Perhaps there were concerns about timing and reliability. The MTG-S1 satellite was scheduled to be launched on the third flight of an Ariane 6 rocket. The mission is nominally scheduled for early 2025. This schedule would likely have gotten the satellite into space sooner than it could have been launched on a Falcon 9.
However, because this four-ton satellite would be placed into geostationary orbit, it would have been the first mission requiring the use of a more powerful version of the Ariane 6 rocket. Instead of using two solid rocket boosters, this “64” version of the rocket uses four solid rocket boosters. Eumetsat officials were concerned about the lengthened timeline for this launch and perhaps had mission assurance concerns about this being the first launch of the Ariane 64 rocket.
Whatever the reason, European satellite officials ended up throwing a load of turd into the punch bowl at a party celebrating the debut of the Ariane 6 rocket.
