02:29Good morning, Olivier, and thank you for joining us.
02:31This was a fairly successful launch for Ariane 6, by the looks of it.
02:38Yes, a very successful launch and the third launch and the second commercial launch.
02:44So Ariane 6 is ramping up.
02:47And in what way might Ariane 6 be considered to be in competition with SpaceX and other commercial satellite companies?
02:55We've heard that the order log has been ramped up for the European, the rocket.
03:01And so will it be providing serious competition?
03:06Well, first and foremost, Ariane 6 is a launcher for European sovereignty.
03:12So there's no match for that.
03:14I mean, Europe wants to launch its satellite with its own launcher.
03:19I mean, it's to be independent, even though we could ask friendly countries to do it for us.
03:27We prefer to do it by ourselves, especially for sensitive satellites.
03:31For example, the previous launch was a military launch.
03:34It was a remote sensing military satellite.
03:36And we don't want to give this satellite to other countries.
03:42So perhaps Ariane 6 is part of a quest for greater security independence on Europe's part.
03:48And do you think that that's a response to recent geopolitical movings elsewhere in the world?
03:57Well, when Ariane 6 was decided, the geopolitical world was a bit more stable.
04:03But I would say, OK, now we have Ariane 6 and it's a good thing to have it.
04:07But Ariane 6 also can have a commercial role.
04:09As you said previously, Ariane 6 will launch super satellites, American satellites.
04:14So there are customers who trust Ariane 5 and Ariane 5 has shown that Europe can do very fine commercial launch services.
04:24So Ariane 6 will continue this tradition, I would say.
04:27Now, there is a collaboration with the United States involved here.
04:32But is there a possibility that that might be threatened by the Trump administration's aggressive stance towards science and particularly climate science?
04:42Well, about that, it's true that Europe is perhaps European Space Agency and European Union, especially with the Copernicus program,
04:54which is a series of satellites for climate change and weather and remote sensing of Earth.
05:00Because Europe is one of the leading, is leading the environmental satellites.
05:06So we are, I would say we are best than the United States for that.
05:12And it's a good thing because we can't wait for the Trump administration to assess this.
05:18They are shutting down satellites that are observing Earth.
05:21So luckily for us, luckily for the science, the climate science, there is Europe.
05:26And this is the third launch of Ariane 6, the second commercial one.
05:31The previous one in March this year was sent a military satellite into orbit.
05:37Europe is investing 20 billion euros in the program.
05:41Is this money well spent?
05:43Yes, it is money well spent because, in fact, if we shut down all the satellites today,
05:49there will be no TV, no GPS, no telecommunication and even no Internet in some part of the world.
05:55So we rely on satellites and satellites need launchers and we need space technology.
06:01You know, you can't build a rocket without engineers, without industry, etc.
06:06We need that money, but it is money well spent because we are in a technological world
06:11and part of this technological world needs space.
