Upper Composite Mounted onto the 1st Ariane 6 Flight Model

On June 14, the Ariane 6 upper composite, which consists of the fairing and the payloads for the first flight, joined the rest of the launcher on the launch pad. Integration of the upper composite is the final step in the launcher assembly process.

For several weeks, teams from ArianeGroup and Arianespace, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French space agency (CNES) have been preparing and assembling the upper composite in the encapsulation building. The two half-fairings were removed from their containers while the payloads were installed on the special Ballast platform. Ballast, which serves as the support for the passengers, was then positioned on the Launch Vehicle Adaptor (LVA) which connects it to the upper stage. These components were then encapsulated under the two 14-meter tall half-fairings to form the launcher’s upper composite. All these operations are carried in a controlled environment in order to maintain optimum conditions for the payloads.

Once it reached the launcher on the launch pad, the upper composite was raised up by a hoist and positioned on top of the upper stage – and the very first Ariane 6 flight model is now complete.