The new
#Ariane 6 rocket, which is running four years late ⏳ and still hasn't flown, should be the last
#LaunchVehicle developed by
#ESA, which will launch a competition of
#launchers without weight class limitations. The field of startup launch companies in
#Europe 🇪🇺 includes German 🇩🇪 firms like
#HyImpulse,
#RocketFactory Augsburg, and
#IsarAerospace; British 🇬🇧 companies such as
#Skyrora and
#Orbex; and Spain's 🇪🇸
#PLDSpace.
#ESA will use around 75 million euros 💰 to pay for the early stages of the
#cargo 📦 challenge, which
#Aschbacher expects will result in three companies competing with one another
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/after-the-sting-of-ariane-6-europe-finally-embraces-commercial-rockets/