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turgid [soylentnews.org] writes:

Airbus Safrane Launchers are showing off the recently-finalised design of the Ariane 6 launcher [bbc.co.uk] which aims to halve launch costs compared with the Ariane 5 [arianespace.com] rocket which has to date had 81 successful launches.

Ariane 6 will make extensive use of 3D printed parts in its Vulcain 2.1 [wikipedia.org] main engine and will use solid rocket boosters in common with the smaller Vega [arianespace.com] rocket.

Ariane 6 will be assembled horizontally (Ariane 5 is assembled vertically) at a rate of one per month when fully operational in 2023.

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