Ariane 6

ArianeGroup / ESA

Europe's new-generation heavy-lift launcher, designed to restore Europe's autonomous access to space.

Ariane 6 is the successor to Ariane 5, designed to be more flexible and lower cost. It comes in two variants — A62 with two solid boosters and A64 with four — sharing a common core stage powered by the Vulcain 2.1 engine and an upper stage powered by the restartable Vinci engine.

Fun facts

The Vinci upper stage engine can ignite and shut down multiple times in orbit — enabling access to several orbits in a single flight.

Ariane 6 flies as A62 (2 boosters) or A64 (4 boosters) — the same core, different configuration.

Its first flight in July 2024 was delayed by 5 years from the original schedule.

Height

63 m

Diameter

5.4 m

Mass

860 t

Stages

Thrust