The French space agency CNES has announced that the first test firing of the P160C solid-fuel booster is scheduled to take place on 24 April at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. The booster will be used on the ArianeGroup-built Ariane 6 Block 2 variants, as well as the Avio-built Vega C and, eventually, Vega E rockets.
Developed as a replacement for the P120C booster, which was first used aboard a Vega C rocket in July 2022, the P160C booster stands 14.5 metres tall and 3.4 metres in diameter, and carries 14 tonnes of additional solid propellant. Once introduced, the booster will provide performance boosts for Vega C and both Ariane 6 variants. The development of the booster has been funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is being carried out by Europropulsion, a joint venture between ArianeGroup and Avio.
According to a 9 April ESA update, the first P160C solid-fuel booster was rolled out to the Solid Motor Test Bench (BEAP) at the Guiana Space Centre on 20 March 2025. The BEAP test stand was initially commissioned in the 1990s and has hosted 18 previous test firings, including the 2020 test firing of the P160C booster’s predecessor.
In a 22 April update published on the CNES Guiana Space Centre website, the agency revealed that the first test firing of a P160 booster would take place on 24 April between 12:00 and 18:00 local time. The test is expected to last for two minutes and 20 seconds, with the results of the test contributing toward qualifying the booster for flight. If successful, Avio and ArianeGroup will begin introducing the booster into service in 2026.
The test of the P160C booster will mark the beginning of a busy few days for teams at the Guiana Space Centre. Just days after the test, the European Space Agency’s Biomass satellite will be launched aboard a Vega C rocket from the launch centre. The launch will be the rocket’s second since it was returned to flight with a reengineered second stage in December 2024.
