Ariane 6 ready for liftoff. Watch the maiden flight of Europe's new rocket online – Multimedia

Hey Ariane 6 is the latest in a series that has launched Europe towards the stars over five decades. In the section on so-called heavy loads, He wants to represent a new generation of “space machines” that are more versatile, modular and sustainable.Today, this moment is also more important for Portugal because it carries on board the first satellite developed by a Portuguese university, ITSat-1, with telemetry from Critical Software and initial monitoring of the “flight” that will be carried out from Santa Maria Island, in the Azores.

It will be present in Two versions, with two or four engines coupledDepending on the strength required by the mission. Diverse capabilities, Its upper stage can ignite multiple times during a single flight.Putting any spacecraft into any orbit – including constellations – in the same way. Save one last batch to come back and burn. In the Earth's atmosphere. With its modular characteristics, it “will be continuously adapted to the needs of the future space sector,” ESA wrote.

Learn about ESA's new rocket in this video “Summary” prepared by ESA

If the technical and meteorological conditions are met. The inaugural flight of the Ariane 6 will take place on Tuesday, July 9.with a launch window from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time – From 20:00 to 00:00 Lisbon -, after delaying an hour compared to the advanced calendar at the beginning.

An important moment for the European space ecosystem It can be followed, live, through ESAWebTV.Broadcast begins 30 minutes before the scheduled time To launch – That is, at exactly half past seven in the evening “for us”.

Follow the live launch with SAPO TEK here

The countdown to liftoff is underway, after the delay, and while the checks are being carried out, the ESA experts tell the story of the rocket and its preparation.

Mission by Portuguese “hand”

The first time you fly, Ariane 6 will fly missions From nine countries which will be launched, Including a Portuguese satellite: the ISTSat-1 nanosatellite, built by Técnico students and teachers..

Hey The 10x10x10 cube explores the potential of nanotechnology in electronics and has five panels on board.. Four of them are called the platform. And it should be present on all satellites. They all have a processor., One of them is the so-called satellite payload. – The body responsible for the mission – The rest is part of the platform, including the on-board computer. Which controls everything and the communications subsystem.

“This system Smaller, simpler and consumes less power than commercially available alternatives.He explained to SAPO TEK Joao Paulo Monteiroa researcher at IST NanosatLab and systems engineer at ISTSat-1, at a stage when the satellite had already passed all the flight tests with ESA's new rocket and all that was missing was the delivery of the technical documentation.

nano satellite It will enter a low circular orbit 580 kilometers from Earth..Compare the received data with the reference data, The Técnico team will receive the information from the satellite at the ground station. From Oeiras Center And to verify that the satellite is carrying out its advanced scientific and technical mission to detect the presence of aircraft in remote areas..

he will send Data of various kinds, including information relating to the location of aircraft, which is not visible from the ground and can only be seen from space.

Click on the images to see the work developed by the ISTSat-1 team.

ISTSat-1 should be It was placed into orbit about an hour after launch. After 45 minutes, “he will open the antennas and start sending telemetry through a Morse coded signal.”He explained that on a frequency of 145.895 MHz João Paulo Monteiro in new statements to SAPO TEKThe first pass of the Portuguese “visible” satellite is scheduled to take place four hours after it is placed in orbit.

Joao Paulo Monteiro admitted that. There are several aspects that make the team apprehensive, “which is normal for any satellite, and even more so for our first attempt,” even though everything has been tested. “Comprehensively over more than two years,” both on Earth and in a simulated space environment, everything seemed to work as expected. “If there’s anything we’ve learned in those two years, it’s that There are always certain situations that no one expected and did not happen by chance during tests.“,

“At this point, we have a clear conscience: we have done everything we could,” said Joao Paulo Monteiro.

In addition to the IST satellite, which puts Portugal back on the space map after PoSAT-1, 30 years ago, and the Eros MH-1 satellite, launched at the beginning of March, the model that is more than 60 meters high and close to 900 tons carries the intended missions Measuring gamma rays, monitoring wildlife, and testing “self-healing” solar cells.integration too Capsules aim to return to Earth's atmosphere to test new materials.

The journey is divided into three parts.

The first flight of Ariane 6 will consist of three stages.each demonstrating the different capabilities of Europe's new heavy missile. First after launch Using a Vulcan 2.1 engine and two powerful P120C thrusters, The main stage will separate from the upper stage and the Vinci engine entering it will give its first pulse.And put it and its passengers in an elliptical orbit at an altitude of 300 x 700 kilometers above the Earth.

In the second case, the latest feature of Ariane 6 is being tested: there is Re-igniting the upper stage, with the Vinci engine fired again for a second time, changed Ariane 6's orbit from elliptical to circular. 580 km from the Earth's surface, To enable the deployment of the satellites and enable experiments on board, the first three satellites – OOV-Cube, Curium One, Robusta-3rd – Activate the two experiences – YPSat and Peregrinus – and, A few seconds later, the second batch of satellites was launched, including the Portuguese satellite ISTSat. -In addition to 3Cat-4 and GRBeta- And activate the remaining two experimentsBefore – Sedlock and Bariat. The third chapter command will deploy CURIE and the replicator.

Hey The final moment of the “flight” includes a new re-ignition of the upper stage after its longest period in space, to begin a controlled exit through Earth's atmosphere. Over Point Nemo in the South Pacific. The two reentry capsules on board will separate for the return to Earth, and the upper stage will be deactivated. – Remove any electricity on board the aircraft to prevent possible explosions – before it burns up in the atmosphereAriane 6 was designed to have this ability: to prevent the upper stage from remaining in space as more debris.

In addition to the ISTSat-1 nanosatellite and Critical Software's telemetry technology, There will be a European Space Agency station in Santa Maria, Azores, to accompany the first part of the “flight” over the Atlantic Ocean..

Azores eyes on space

Ariane 6's space debut will be monitored by a global network of ground stations, including Two from the European Space Agency (ESA), in Santa Maria, Portugal, and New Norcia, Australia.The two units Strategically located along the Ariane 6's path, it will monitor key phases of the flight and collect telemetry and video images to analyze the rocket's performance.Its speed reaches 28,000 km/h.

Ground monitoring is critical to obtaining information about the health and performance of the launcher, Especially during critical phases such as active boost and load shedding..

The data collected will allow Disc and improve launcher performanceWhich increases the accuracy and reliability of future launches.

Initially created to communicate with satellites, ESA's ground station network – Etrack – was expanded to support rocket launches in 2008, with Addition of a 5.5m antenna and station on Santa Maria IslandFrom here, the station has a view of a large part of the Atlantic Ocean.

About 50 minutes after launch, Ariane 6 will appear above the horizon in Western Australia and here The “certificate” is passed to New Norcia Station..

During the flight, multiple data streams, including video, will be processed and sent for analysis. Using the software developed by Critical Software, there are two types of telemetry devices created: one for real-time flight monitoring and the other for post-processing and flight quality analysis..

This is a remote measurement program. In just five milliseconds, you will collect and process the massive amount of data generated by your sensors.on board“, in real time and in a deterministic manner.Ensure that transfer restrictions and requirements are respected before sending data.

like him, Ground control stations will be able to use this data, which is essential for monitoring and controlling the various launch phases.. Furthermore, this data It will allow for analysis and correction of any failures that could put the missile at risk..