Europe Needs More Rockets. Can Its Launch Industry Keep Up?
The European Space Agency (ESA) is reviewing whether Europe’s current rocket capacity can meet a satellite launch market that could peak around 2030, with director general Josef Aschbacher acknowledging the agency has not yet decided whether to raise its launch rate.
The question is not hypothetical. Amazon has already commissioned 18 launches on top of Arianespace’s projected nine or ten annual Ariane 6 flights from 2027, and ESA is separately funding a handful of new European rocket companies to widen supply beyond Ariane 6 and Vega-C, the region’s two current workhorse rockets, used respectively for larger and smaller satellite payloads.
“We need to make a decision pretty soon,” ESA director general Josef Aschbacher said, as per Reuters, though no approved target for a higher annual launch rate currently exists.
ESA weighs capacity as demand climbs
France-based Arianespace, the world’s first commercial launch provider founded in 1980, currently projectsnine...
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