The chief of Arianespace could not be more clear: He does not want any competition for Vega C and Ariane 6, nor does he believe any commercial European company should have a chance to compete for the development of a next-generation reusable rocket.

However, what Israël did not say is also important. With a lift capacity of about 2 metric tons to low-Earth orbit but a price of nearly $40 million, the Vega rocket is not price-competitive with commercial rockets nor India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Moreover, this Italian-made rocket has failed in three out of its last eight flights. Also, while Israël touts Ariane 6, this rocket does not yet exist. Europe has spent nearly $5 billion developing this booster, which may not fly until 2024 and will be four years late. //

MMarsh Ars Praefectus
7y
3,013
Subscriptor
Arianespace has always existed at the awkward intersection of the private and public sectors. As a commercial launch provider — indeed, the first such provider — it must continually prove its viability in the marketplace. As a symbol of European Union pride, backed by multiple governments, it is obliged to spread its operations out in inefficient ways and to make design and management decisions that stem more from politics than from engineering.

It's a structure and business model that, although inefficient, worked reasonably well for many years.

Until now.

If Europe wants to piss away a few billion euros on a vanity piece to say "hey look, we can still launch our own five birds a year from French Guiana" then they are welcome to do so. But I can think of much better ways to spend that money and those engineer-hours.