initially planned for a 2020 debut. However, the program faced delays, with the first launch eventually taking place on 9 July 2024. While the rocket successfully launched, the mission experienced a partial failure when the upper stage malfunctioned and was not able to complete its final deorbit burn. The second launch was therefore postponed to 6 March 2025, successfully delivering its first commercial payload to orbit, the CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite.

Ariane 6 was designed to reduce