6 March 2025

Flight Ariane 6 VA263 in a nutshell

Ariane 6 lift-off is scheduled on March 6th, 2025 at 01:24pm local time at Kourou, 05:24pm (CET), 04:24 (UTC). It will place the CSO-3 satellite into orbit. Discover in a nutshell the main elements to know about the flight & mission.

VA263 mission in a nutshell

  • Payload : CSO-3
  • Customer :  The French Defence Procurement and Technology Agency (DGA) and the French Space Agency (CNES) on behalf of the French Air and Space Force’s Space Command (CDE)
  • Mission : Earth observation for defence and security purposes
  • Lift-off weight : 3,600 Kg
  • Lifetime : 10 years
  • Targeted orbit :  Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of approximately 800 km.
  • Inclination : 98°
  • Time : 13h24 local time (16h24 UTC, 17h24 CET)
  • Mission duration (from lift-off to the satellite separation) : 1 hour and 6 minutes 
La fusée Ariane 6 a pris son envol.
©

ESA - S. CORVAJA (2024)

The first laucnh of 2025 from the Europe spaceport is scheduled on March 3rd at 01:24 pm (Kourou time), 05:24pm (CET), 04:24 (UTC). It will be Ariane 6's first commercial flight following the success of its inaugural flight on July 9th, 2024. 

The VA263 mission will place the military satellite CSO-3 into Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 800 km. Spacecraft separation will occur 1 hour and 6 minutes after lift-off.

 

 

About the payload

 

 


The CSO-3 satellite is the third in a constellation of three military Earth-observation satellites for the DGA-led MUSIS programme (Multinational Space-based Imaging System).

The CSO satellite programme, equipped with latest generation optical sensors, guarantees continuity of France’s optical Earth intelligence resources, transmitting very high resolution (VHR) images for the French armed forces and their European partners.

 

DGA delegated oversight to CNES for construction and launch of the CSO satellites, and for the mission ground segment (SSM). CNES is also system co-architect and in charge of launch, in-orbit commissioning and station-keeping operations throughout the satellite’s lifetime. DGA and CNES are working closely together as overall architect to ensure system-level consistency across prime contractor activities. As part of an integrated team with DGA and CDE, CNES’s team has been involved in every phase of the project from early-stage studies to final satellite qualification. A consortium formed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence & Space is the prime contractor for the CSO satellites.

Flight sequence

Les étapes de vol de la mission Ariane 6 VA263 (décollage jusqu'à déploiement satellite) en anglais

Focus on CSO-1 & 2...

 

 

The CSO-1 & 2 have been successfully launched from the Europe Spaceport in 2018 and 2020, by Soyuz rockets. Relive the launch trough theses videos.

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