Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
Today's launch was a long time coming. Development of the Ariane 6 began in late 2014, and its debut was originally envisioned to take place in 2020. But the timeline slipped due to technical issues and outside problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ariane 6 comes in two variants: the A62, which has two strap-on solid rocket boosters , and the A64, which has four SRBs. These A62 and A64 can deliver about 11.4 tons and 23.8 tons to As Ars noted, that would make the new rocket"reasonably competitive" with the market's dominant launcher, the Falcon 9, which can be booked for $67 million per flight. But there's more to the story: ESA's member states have committed to, to the tune of 290 million to 340 million euros per year through 2031 or so.
Two of those passengers make up NASA's Cubesat Radio Interferometry Experiment, or CURIE, which will attempt to determine the source of mysterious solar radio waves.
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