Europe's space industry is set to reopen for business with the first-ever commercial launch of Ariane 6 today.

A 'dysfunctional valve' was detected minutes before the scheduled launch on Monday of the rocket, which is to carry a French military satellite into space.

The first commercial mission of Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 has been rescheduled for Thursday, French company Arianespace announced, after an "anomaly" forced a last-minute postponement. But minutes before Monday's blast off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou,

Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 is set to carry out its first commercial mission on Monday as Europe seeks to secure independent access to space amid a shock rapprochement between Moscow and Washington.

After several false starts, Europe's new rocket Ariane 6 is aiming to finally blast off on its first commercial mission Thursday, carrying with it the continent's hopes of bolstering its security and independent access to space.