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ARCHIVE CONTENT
04 JUL. 2024
publication date
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A network of ground stations around the world, including two owned by ESA, will track the debut flight of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket. They will monitor key phases of the flight and gather telemetry and video that will be used to analyse the rocket’s performance and optimise future launches.
ESA’s stations in Santa Maria, Portugal, and New Norcia, Australia, supported many Ariane 5 launch campaigns and will return to action for the debut flight of its successor, Ariane 6, this month.
They will form part of the ‘downrange tracking network’ for the first flight of Ariane 6 under the responsibility and organisation of the French Space Agency, CNES. The ESA stations will join stations from CNES and other partners at Galliot and Saint-Jean du Maroni (France), Bermuda (UK), Aussaguel (France), and Lucknow (India). Future flights will be supported by different stations depending on their trajectory.
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Artist's view of Ariane 6 – Flight Model-1
Around 50 minutes after launch, Ariane 6 will appear above the horizon in Western Australia. ESA’s New Norcia station in Western Australia is home to one of the agency’s 35 m deep space dishes, which is used to communicate with missions such as Juice and Solar Orbiter while they are many millions of km away.
However, the size and technology required to track these distant spacecraft is not ideal for tracking fast-moving rockets. Tracking launchers on trajectories like that of the first Ariane 6 is instead carried out by the site’s smaller, 4.5 m dish.
Known as ‘New Norcia 2’, the smaller antenna is more agile and has a wider field of view, allowing it to lock on to the signal from a launcher even when its exact location in the sky is not known. It can also carry out rapid sky searches in case a launcher over- or underperforms.
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Ariane 6 first flight tracking infographic
A network of ground stations around the world, including two owned by ESA, will track the debut flight of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket. They will monitor key phases of the flight and gather telemetry and video that will be used to analyse the rocket’s performance and optimise future launches.
ESA’s stations in Santa Maria, Portugal, and New Norcia, Australia, supported many Ariane 5 launch campaigns and will return to action for the debut flight of its successor, Ariane 6, this month.
They will form part of the ‘downrange tracking network’ for the first flight of Ariane 6 under the responsibility and organisation of the French Space Agency, CNES. The ESA stations will join stations from CNES and other partners at Galliot and Saint-Jean du Maroni (France), Bermuda (UK), Aussaguel (France), and Lucknow (India). Future flights will be supported by different stations depending on their trajectory.
Media modal
ESA's launcher tracking antenna on the island of Santa Maria, Portugal
Around 50 minutes after launch, Ariane 6 will appear above the horizon in Western Australia. ESA’s New Norcia station in Western Australia is home to one of the agency’s 35 m deep space dishes, which is used to communicate with missions such as Juice and Solar Orbiter while they are many millions of km away.
However, the size and technology required to track these distant spacecraft is not ideal for tracking fast-moving rockets. Tracking launchers on trajectories like that of the first Ariane 6 is instead carried out by the site’s smaller, 4.5 m dish.
Known as ‘New Norcia 2’, the smaller antenna is more agile and has a wider field of view, allowing it to lock on to the signal from a launcher even when its exact location in the sky is not known. It can also carry out rapid sky searches in case a launcher over- or underperforms.
Media modal
ESA's launcher tracking antenna in New Norcia, Australia
Around 50 minutes after launch, Ariane 6 will appear above the horizon in Western Australia. ESA’s New Norcia station in Western Australia is home to one of the agency’s 35 m deep space dishes, which is used to communicate with missions such as Juice and Solar Orbiter while they are many millions of km away.
However, the size and technology required to track these distant spacecraft is not ideal for tracking fast-moving rockets. Tracking launchers on trajectories like that of the first Ariane 6 is instead carried out by the site’s smaller, 4.5 m dish.
Known as ‘New Norcia 2’, the smaller antenna is more agile and has a wider field of view, allowing it to lock on to the signal from a launcher even when its exact location in the sky is not known. It can also carry out rapid sky searches in case a launcher over- or underperforms.
A network of ground stations around the world, including two owned by ESA, will track the debut flight of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket. They will monitor key phases of the flight and gather telemetry and video that will be used to analyse the rocket’s performance and optimise future launches.
ESA’s stations in Santa Maria, Portugal, and New Norcia, Australia, supported many Ariane 5 launch campaigns and will return to action for the debut flight of its successor, Ariane 6, this month.
They will form part of the ‘downrange tracking network’ for the first flight of Ariane 6 under the responsibility and organisation of the French Space Agency, CNES. The ESA stations will join stations from CNES and other partners at Galliot and Saint-Jean du Maroni (France), Bermuda (UK), Aussaguel (France), and Lucknow (India). Future flights will be supported by different stations depending on their trajectory.
A network of ground stations around the world, including two owned by ESA, will track the debut flight of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket. They will monitor key phases of the flight and gather telemetry and video that will be used to analyse the rocket’s performance and optimise future launches.
ESA’s stations in Santa Maria, Portugal, and New Norcia, Australia, supported many Ariane 5 launch campaigns and will return to action for the debut flight of its successor, Ariane 6, this month.
They will form part of the ‘downrange tracking network’ for the first flight of Ariane 6 under the responsibility and organisation of the French Space Agency, CNES. The ESA stations will join stations from CNES and other partners at Galliot and Saint-Jean du Maroni (France), Bermuda (UK), Aussaguel (France), and Lucknow (India). Future flights will be supported by different stations depending on their trajectory.
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