Philippe Baptiste, Chairman and CEO of the French space agency CNES, has expressed his disappointment and concern over Eumetsat's decision to cancel its contract with Arianespace and launch its Meteosat MTG-S1 satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket instead of the Ariane 6. Baptiste called the decision a "brutal change" and a "very disappointing day for European space efforts."
Credit: Eumetsat
Eumetsat's executive committee made the request to cancel the contract, which was signed four years ago, according to a report by the French news outlet Le Monde. The Meteosat MTG-S1 satellite was initially scheduled to launch on the third Ariane 6 flight in early 2025.
Baptiste took to LinkedIn to express his disapproval of Eumetsat's decision, questioning how far Europeans will go in their "naivety." He emphasized the need for European institutional missions to be launched on European rockets, citing the calls made by major European space countries and the European Commission for the same.
The CNES chief's sentiments were echoed by Arianespace's head of public affairs, Charlotte Lang, who stated during a panel meeting at the European Space Forum conference that the EU should enforce the principle of European launcher preference. Arianespace reinforced this sentiment in a LinkedIn update, stressing the need for the EU to legislate that European missions be launched from European territory using European launchers and technology.
Eumetsat's decision comes as a blow to the Ariane 6 program, which is scheduled to make its maiden flight in less than two weeks. The decision raises questions about the rocket's future reliability and puts pressure on other European institutions to find alternative payloads to fulfill their commitment to purchase a minimum of five Ariane 6 flights annually.
Arianespace had a backlog of thirty flights prior to Eumetsat's decision, with more than half dedicated to Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. The remaining backlog includes ESA missions and commercial flights for Intelsat, Hellas Sat, and Eutelsat.
The European Commission had committed to purchasing five Ariane 6 flights annually in 2017 to ensure the rocket's economic viability. Eumetsat's decision may force the Commission to reconsider its commitment and explore alternative options for launching European satellites.
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Seriously? This is akin to a stagecoach company whining about the train taking its business. Arianespace needs to build trains - reusable, high cadence and cost effective - launch systems, otherwise it just becomes a tiny footnote in history.