Europe will attempt to lever itself back into pole position in the space race when its newest rocket, Ariane 6, blasts off from French Guiana later this evening.
Developed for €4bn (£3.4bn), If successful the rocket will be used to put a string of satellites into orbit.
Under pressure from Elon Musk and his SpaceX company’s successful re-use of Falcon rockets, the European Space Agency knows this is a critical time for its development.
“This is a big moment," said ESA director-general Josef Aschbacher.
"Daily life today really depends on information from satellites, from telecommunications and Earth observation to weather forecasting and disaster management.
But unlike SpeceX which has developed reusable rockets and can undercut Europe’s current stalwart, Ariane-5, the ESA’s new version can only be used once with its resuable version not scheduled until 2030.
"We can all have our own opinions. What I can just reaffirm is that we have an order book that is full," said Lucia Linares, who heads space transportation strategy at ESA.
Lift-off from the equatorial Kourou spaceport is scheduled to occur during a four-hour window, starting at 15:00 local time (20:00 CEST; 19:00 BST).
Ariane-6 is a project of 13 member states of Esa, led by France (56%) and Germany (21%) paying up to €340m (£295m) a year to support the early phase of Ariane-6’s commercial life.
The UK dropped out of direct participation in 2003.