After Russia invaded Ukraine last month, the international community imposed significant sanctions on Russia’s economy, including the space program. In response, Roscosmos decided to stop Soyuz launches from ESA’s spaceport in French Guiana. This left a handful of ESA satellites without their ride to space. The planned launches range from an Earth science satellite to a space telescope and four navigation satellites. 

In a meeting of the ESA Council on March 17, they explained some of the options for moving the payloads to other rockets. The most preferable option would be to wait and launch the satellites on the upcoming Ariane 6 and Vega C rockets. Launching one of the payloads on the first launch of Ariane 6 later this year would be an option but a risky one. It was originally planned to carry a mass simulator, typical for inaugural launches of a rocket. Putting a real payload on it is risky in the event of a failure.

Vega-C is also an option, but there is a problem with that too. The fourth stage of the Vega-C uses a Ukrainian-built engine. Arianespace has three engines already.; however, they may not be able to get more, so they are looking into replacements. Finally, ESA is looking into foreign rockets to launch their satellites, though they would really prefer to launch them on European ones.

More Information

ESA weighs options for replacing Soyuz launches (Space News)