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The launch of Ariane 6 yesterday was a success, although an anomaly with one of the computers on board was recorded at the end of the flight, and two re-entry capsules were not dropped as planned, BBC News reports this in "Europe's Ariane-6 rocket blasts off on maiden flight", which includes a short video with the actual take off of the spaceship. This article is recomended for C1 students, as it contains a combination of technical and colloquial terms like: to blast off, maiden [flight], to set off, a launchpad, a clutch of [satellites], a crew, to soar [into the sky], smoothly, onboard, to pressurise [the propulsion system], to set up [the final task], to jettison, nonetheless, relieved, a heavy-lift [rocket], fairing, [upper] stage, booster, a payload, a workhorse [rocket], a backlog [of contracts], expendable, reusable, to carve out a niche [for itself], to harness, state-of-the-art [manufacturing techniques], friction stir welding, augmented reality [design], to result in [faster and cheaper production], to lift, a strap-on booster, core [stage], a [large] batch [of satellites], to pull [itself] back [down to Earth], to linger, [space] junk, to hold up [the Ariane-6 programme], [high] jeopardy, an outright [failure], to blow itself apart, to put [the loss] down to [an error], dominance, to undercut [the competitiveness], an order book, a leading [player], [to supply] components. The European Space Agency has published a thorough technical description of the rocket in "Ariane 6, Overview", which is recommended for experts ("Ex" level of difficulty).
