Europe's new heavyweight launcher built by ArianeGroup - an
Airbus-Safran joint-venture - has been delayed by technical
glitches and is due to stage its first test launch in 2024, four
years behind the original plan.
The previous generation of rockets for heavy payloads, Ariane 5,
was retired in July.
Beyond resolving the immediate technical problems, European
states have been at odds over medium-term budgets and schedules
stretching beyond the first 15 flights of Ariane 6.
"A series of fundamental points are set out for the relaunch of
the space sector, resolving long-standing disputes over the
availability of launches and their sites, and finally laying the
foundations for a new unified phase in Europe and in the global
competitive environment," Urso said in a statement.
The smaller Vega-C has been grounded since Dec. 22 after a
failed launch. Italy has been campaigning for the rocket to be
marketed separately from ArianeGroup subsidiary Arianespace,
which currently sells and operates all major European launches.
Monday's agreement opens the door to Vega-C being operated
independently by Italian manufacturer Avio in addition to the
current arrangements carried out by Arianespace, the statement
added. In Milan, shares in Avio rose 2.9%.
The three-way agreement was signed during a European Space
Agency (ESA) ministerial meeting in Seville, Spain.
Launchers are a pressing issue as Europe faces a gap in access
to space following the Ariane 6 and Vega-C delays, coupled with
the loss of access by western European nations to Russia's Soyuz
programme due to the war in Ukraine.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said last week there was
"light at the end of tunnel" in efforts to bring Ariane 6 to the
launchpad and restore Europe's independent access to space.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Cristina Carlevaro,
editing by Federico Maccioni, Tim Hepher)
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