Saturday, March 8

Europe has successfully launched a French spy satellite into space aboard their brand-new Ariane 6 rocket after years of delays.

Europe has been planning to build a rocket capable of competing with US-made rockets for years, but their plans never came together until recently. The European Space Agency (ESA) initiated the process, but the ideas were executed by ArianeGroup. ArianeGroup is a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, two European aerospace engineering companies, which is paid by the ESA to build rockets.

Ariane 5, the group's previous rocket, was extremely successful, with over 110 launches. The heavy-lift rocket was recently retired, though, as Ariane 6 was in the works. Ariane 6 was first proposed in 2014 after increasing advancements on the American side of space innovation, but years of delays set the initial launch back several times from its original date in 2020.

However, due to the setbacks, Europe has been left without a working rocket for missions for two years, as Ariane 5 was retired in 2023. While Ariane 6 began a test flight last July, it ended up leaving the upper stage of the rocket in the atmosphere after a glitch in the system.

Nevertheless, this time around, Ariane 6 lifted off from the EU's launchpad in Kourou, French Guiana, yesterday afternoon. The rocket was successfully launched into space, where it released a French spy satellite by the name of CSO-3 into orbit.

Europe believes that this could be the first step towards making more advancements in the space industry, which could bring them closer to competing with the likes of SpaceX and other private American companies.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The most used computer password is 123456, and "password" happens to rank relatively high on the list of most common passwords as well.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): I have far less than what people think, but far more than I need. (Rakesh Jhunjhunwala)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Emolliant (noun, ih-MAHL-yunt) - An emollient is something, such as a lotion, that softens or soothes.

In a Sentence: She keeps a number of oils in the bathroom—argan, almond, and coconut—to use as emollients.