Cometto’s New Transport Vehicles for Ariane 6 Projects

The fifth generation of the heavy-lift space launch vehicle, Ariane5, has now been launched for the last time from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana.

But since 2014, Ariane 6, a direct successor system, is in development and now ready for new missions, and Cometto has a firm role within this highly sensitive and technologically incredibly wide-ranging field.

The CSG (Centre Spatial Guyanais) and the CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) rely on technology by Cometto to transport rocket components to the launch area. Just as for Ariane5 the new Ariane 6 has two 9-axle transporters for the vertical transport of the P120 boosters to the new ELA4 launch zone, specifically created for the launch of Ariane 6.

The two vehicles are respectively equipped with two 235 kW Volvo engines and two 566 kW Scania engines and can operate in two transport configurations: one for the European Space Agency launch vehicle, Vega-C, and one for the new Ariane 6.

These two different configurations provide specific accelerations, no-load and laden speeds and decelerations for each of the two configurations.

The implementation of the particularly stringent requirements is another exclusive achievement of Cometto engineering. Besides quality and technological progress, service is one of the keys to success at Cometto.

A specialized Cometto service team visited CSG in French Guiana for three weeks to give detailed instruction session on the new vehicles. The teams worked perfectly together and CSG is now ready for the upcoming missions.

Cometto appreciates the hospitality and consider it an honour to be part in shaping the future together.

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