Airanespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) had to stand down from the planned launch of the first Ariane 6 rocket of the year and the second in program history on Monday, March 3.
David Cavaillolès, the CEO of Arianespace, confirmed there was a ground systems issue that prevented the launch, but wasn’t able to provide additional details, according to Frédéric Castel, an aerospace reporter covering the launch for Spaceflight Now in French Guiana.
There were less than 30 minutes remaining in the countdown when the scrub was called. Arianespace was targeting an instantaneous launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is set for 1:24 p.m. Kourou time (11:24 a.m. EST, 1624 UTC).
The next launch opportunity hasn’t been announced.
When it launches, the mission will be the first customer flight of the 56 m (184 ft) tall rocket, which will once again use a short payload fairing (14-meters-long / 46-feet-long) and two P120C solid rocket motors.
Onboard the rocket is the third and final satellite for the French military’s Optical Space Component (CSO– Composante Spatiale Optique) program. Arianespace said the CSO-3 satellite will operate in concert with the CSO-1 satellite, launched on Dec. 19, 2018, and CSO-2, launched on Dec. 29, 2020, to help in providing defense and reconnaissance information for the French Air and Space Force’s Space Command (CDE).
“Positioned in Sun-synchronous orbits at different altitudes, the three satellites carry out two different missions: reconnaissance for CSO-1 and CSO-3, geared towards providing coverage, acquisition over theaters of operations and revisit capability, and identification for CSO-2, to supply the highest possible level of resolution, image quality and analytical precision,” said Arianespace in a press release.
The spacecraft is designed to have a 10-year lifespan and will be launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of about 800 km and an inclination of 98 degrees. It will deploy from the Ariane 6 rocket at about an hour and six minutes following liftoff.
The constellation of satellites for the CSO system will help bolster the Multinational Space-based Imaging System (MUSIS), which is led by the French Defence Procurement and Technology Agency (DGA). It tapped the French space agency (CNES) to manage the satellite contracts and launch procurement.
The CSO satellites are built by Airbus Defence and Space with Thales Alenia Space as the prime contractor for the spacecrafts’ very high resolution (VHR) optical imaging instrument.