Minutes before it was scheduled to launch Monday, the first commercial mission of Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 was called off due to an "anomaly" on the ground.
It was the latest of several postponements for the rocket as Europe seeks to secure independent access to space amid a shock rapprochement between Moscow and Washington.
"An anomaly was detected... a valve was found to be dysfunctional on one of the pipes that refuel the launcher," said Ariane chief David Cavailloles.
The launch had been scheduled to blast off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 1:24 pm (1624 GMT) Monday.
While there had been some scattered rain in Kourou, teams on the ground had received the green light until just minutes before blast off.
"The only possible decision now is to postpone the launch," said Cavailloles.
"I have no doubt that we will have another flight again soon," he added.
The launch was postponed as Europe seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States for security -- and the European space industry struggles to remain competitive with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The launcher was intended to place a French military satellite in orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometres (500 miles) above Earth.
Europe has not been able to use Russia's Soyuz rockets since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, while the workhorse Ariane 5 was retired in 2023.
- 'We must be united' -
The mission had taken on greater symbolic significance after the administration of new US President Donald Trump initiated a surprise rapprochement with Russia, prompting European nations to close ranks.
"Europe must ensure its own security," ESA space transportation director Toni Tolker-Nielsen told a press conference in Kourou before the postponement was announced.
"We must be united," Cavailloles said, stressing the importance of "not depending on anyone else" to launch satellites "in today's world".
The space industry has been experiencing major upheaval -- and more is expected after SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon Musk recently became a prominent advisor to Trump.
"The concept of strategic autonomy, once mocked as a French whim, is at the heart of the Europe of tomorrow," France's research minister Philippe Baptiste told local media.
"The number of launches has exploded -- not only American, but also Chinese," said French General Philippe Steininger, a consultant at the space research institute CNES.
Initially planned for December, the Ariane 6 mission was delayed until February 26 and then to March 3. The next launch date is not yet known.
The mission is to take the CSO-3 satellite into space. CSO-3 will complete a network of three French military imaging satellites, with the first two launched in 2018 and 2020 on Soyuz rockets.
- Heavy security -
The satellites have "orbiting cameras that take images in both visible and infrared light all over the globe, which is very important for military operations," Michel Sayegh, the head of the French government's armament agency DGA, told AFP.
Given the military role of the satellite, strict security precautions were taken to limit access at the spaceport on the northern coast of South America, with French fighter jets deployed to patrol the surrounding skies.
Europe's smaller Vega-C launcher was earlier grounded for two years due to an accident that resulted in the loss of two satellites, only resuming flights in December 2024.
The mishap left Europe without a way to launch satellites into orbit for a year, following delays to Ariane 6 and the end of cooperation with Russia.
Europe has only a handful of military satellites, compared to the hundreds of the United States and China.
Source: AFP
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