Ariane 6 team with assembled test model on launch pad

Team in front of the Ariane 6 test model at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana after the arrival and placement of the upper part, 14 October 2022.

With Ariane 6 fully integrated with the pad, so-called combined tests could start validated the rocket, launch pad and shared electrical, fluid and mechanical systems as a complete system. The combined tests included tank filling and drainage operations which guarantee smooth-running of a launch sequence. Flight and control bench software were also be tested.

Europe’s next rocket, Ariane 6, passed all its qualification tests in preparation for its first flight, and the full-scale test model on this photo was removed from the launch pad to make way for the real rocket that will ascend to space.

The test model was exactly the same as the ‘production model’ Ariane 6 rockets that will soon be launched, except that its boosters did not need to be tested as part of the complete rocket, so the boosters were not fuelled.