Europe's Ariane 6 rocket blasted off carrying satellites on July 9. The lift-off marked the return of Europe's access to outer space. The lift-off was successful, but the mission ended with Ariane 6 coasting into orbit without releasing the final payload.
To protect "Europe's return to space", three French Rafale fighter jets were deployed to escort the rocket and prevent any "malicious intrusion in the air". A video of Rafales escorting the rocket is now viral on X.
Shot from the fighter jet's cockpit, the Rafale fighter is tailing the rocket as it lifts off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The fighter jets flew at several hundred feet above the ground and gained altitude as the launcher flew into space. The Dassault Rafale has a service ceiling of 50,000 feet. The video shows the Rafales maintaining a formation and breaking in opposite directions.
The Ariane 6 rocket is powered by the Vinci engine - A new-generation cryogenic engine that powers the upper stage of the Ariane 6 launcher. Vinci is designed to restart repeatedly, allowing the operator to place payloads into several different orbits.
The French Air and Space Force said "three Rafales, two Eurocopter Fennecs and a Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle from Germany to create a protection bubble to secure the European spaceport from any malicious intrusion on land and in the air."
Initially delayed for an hour by a small problem that was noticed in the morning, the rocket lifted off into clear skies.
The mission faced a slight setback as the rocket deviated from its trajectory towards the end of the flight, failing to carry out its planned re-entry into the earth's atmosphere and landing in the Pacific.
But that did not dampen the spirits of European space chiefs, whose objective was to put satellites into orbit.
When it launched, Ariane 6 carried with it the hopes of European sovereignty in space.
Since the last flight of its workhorse predecessor, Ariane 5, a year ago, Europe has had to rely on rivals such as Elon Musk's US firm SpaceX.
Selected by the ESA back in 2014, Ariane 6 will able to place satellites in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres above Earth as well as satellite constellations a few hundred kilometres up.
- With Inputs from AFP
