The European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 rocket successfully completed a dress rehearsal on Thursday and tested its engine in preparation for its first flight, planned for 2024. Final results of the ignition test, which involved firing the Vulcain 2.1 engine and running it for more than seven minutes, will not be released until November 30, pending a full analysis.

However, producer ArianeGroup described the rehearsal as “successfully completed”. The hot fire test at the European Cosmodrome in French Guiana “simulated the full launch sequence and thus validated the entire flight phase of the Ariane 6 main stage,” it said in a statement after Thursday’s rehearsal.

ArianeGroup CEO Martin Sion praised the team for the “true industrial achievement” but added that “several additional tests”, including fault tolerance, were still needed before the rocket was ready for launch. This rocket’s predecessor, Ariane 5, last flew in July after 27 years of launches.

With the smaller Vega C grounded after a failed launch in December and Russia withdrawing space cooperation in response to sanctions against Ukraine, ESA was left without an independent space route until it prepared Ariane 6. Meanwhile, the launch vehicle market is growing and is dominated by US billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

“This test is a significant milestone, following years of design, planning, preparation, construction and hard work by Europe’s best space engineers,” said ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.

“We are once again on track to restore European autonomous access to space.”