Europe's Ariane 5 Retirement Sparks Urgent Space Launch Crisis

Europe is facing a launch crisis as its heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 5, retires, leaving the continent without independent access to space for large satellites. The successor, Ariane 6, is still undergoing development and testing and is unlikely to fly until the end of this year or even later in 2024. The situation is worsened by the inoperability of the smaller Vega-C rocket and the unavailability of Russian Soyuz rockets. Ariane 6 is expected to be more cost-efficient and flexible, with two versions available, and is currently in the final stages of development.