> the Ariane 6 doesn't seem much different from the Ariane 5 and I can't imagine it actually brings much to the table in terms of performance or cost savings, e

> the Ariane 6 doesn't seem much different from the Ariane 5 and I can't imagine it actually brings much to the table in terms of performance or cost savings, especially in light of how involved the development of it was. My understanding is that Ariane 6 was explicitly designed to reduce production costs compared to Ariane 5, in large part due to competitive pressure from SpaceX. > With the new Ariane 6 slated to enter service in 2020, ArianeGroup promises to cut per-kilogram launch cost by 40 to 50 percent compared to Ariane 5. https://spacenews.com/arianegroup-cfo-pierre-godart-on-ariane-6-cost-savings-micro-launchers-and-reusability https://spacenews.com/arianegroup-cfo-pierre-godart-on-arian... (2017) I guess, we'll see if they achieve that goal. Although rocket pricing is notoriously opaque.