The European Space Agency has awarded Arianespace a contract to explore potential options for enabling crewed missions to be launched aboard the Ariane 6 rocket.
In an interview with SpaceNews, ESA director of space transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen explained that Ariane 6 could either be modified to comply with necessary safety standards to launch crewed flights or the agency could “invest in a safety system for the capsule to make it safe for the crew in case of launch failure.” Tolker-Nielsen went on to explain that the agency already had a contract out to “find the best trade-off between these two options in the next year.”
Funding for the study in question was approved at the agency’s ministerial meeting in Paris in 2022 as part of the Human Space Transportation Element of ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP).
The ‘Study on Ariane 6 launch system compliance with Human Space Transportation application for the short-term perspective’ contract was awarded to Arianespace, with ArianeGroup acting as a subcontractor. The study aims to assess the Ariane 6 launch system’s suitability for crew transportation, including operational and safety constraints relating to crewed missions. Work on the contract began in October 2023 and is expected to be concluded towards the end of the year.
While no results about the preferred direction will be shared before the study is complete, during the Ariane 6 post-launch press conference, ArianeGroup CEO Martin Sion did appear to hint at which way it was leaning.
When asked if Ariane 6 could be adapted for human spaceflight, Sion said, “If there is a need, it is something which is possible. A significant part of the additional safety comes from the capsule.”
Despite appearing to be in the best position to deliver on a crew capacity, ESA is not yet committed to Ariane 6. In the SpaceNews interview, Tolker-Nielsen concluded that “ESA would not favour any particular launch; it would ask industry to come up with proposals.”
