During the 17th European Space Conference, held in Brussels on 28 and 29 January, Arianespace was awarded contracts to launch PLATO, Sentinel-1D, and a pair of second-generation Galileo satellites.
Arianespace currently has a backlog of 30 Ariane 6 launches, 18 of which are for Amazon’s Kuiper constellation. The company is expected to complete five flights of the rocket in 2025, including the inaugural launch of the more powerful Ariane 64 variant, which features four solid-fuel boosters instead of two. The first operational flight of the rocket is scheduled for 26 February, carrying the CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite for the French Armed Forces. The next is expected in August, launching the MetOp-SG-A1 satellite for EUMETSAT.
During signing events at the 17th European Space Conference, Arianespace secured contracts for three Ariane 6 flights.
ESA’s PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission is designed to detect and characterize Earth-like exoplanets. Using an array of 26 cameras, it will observe hundreds of thousands of stars, searching for slight dips in brightness that indicate the presence of orbiting planets. PLATO will then assess these planets’ densities, compositions, and whether they fall within the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The probe will be launched aboard an Ariane 62 rocket toward the end of 2026.
The Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite will replace Sentinel-1A, which has been in orbit for nearly 11 years, well beyond its planned lifetime. It will join Sentinel-1C, which was launched aboard the Vega-C return-to-flight mission in December 2024. Once in orbit, data from Sentinel-1D will be used to track global warming indicators, such as sea ice extent, and monitor environmental threats like oil spills. Sentinel-1D is slated for launch aboard an Ariane 62 rocket in the second half of 2025.
The first 12 second-generation Galileo satellites are being built in parallel by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space at a cost of €1.47 billion. These satellites will feature a number of upgrades, including electric propulsion, fully digital navigation payloads, inter-satellite links, more powerful navigation antennas, and an advanced atomic clock configuration.
The Arianespace press release did not specify a proposed launch period or which Ariane 6 variant would be used for the mission. However, with each satellite weighing up to 2,400 kilograms, significantly more than the 700-kilogram first-generation satellites, and a target orbit at an altitude of 23,222 kilometres, the mission requirements likely exceed the performance capabilities of Ariane 62.
