WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency conducted a long-duration firing of an Ariane 6 prototype Nov. 23, one of the final tests before the agency is ready to set a date for the rocket’s inaugural launch.

The Vulcain 2.1 engine in the core stage of the Ariane 6 test model ignited at about 3:44 p.m. Eastern on the launch pad at Kourou, French Guiana. The start of the test was delayed by nearly 45 minutes when the countdown was stopped at 2 minutes and 42 seconds because of what ESA called “a small anomaly in the transient threshold pressure.”

The test firing was scheduled to last 470 seconds, mimicking a full burn of the core stage on an actual launch. Controllers announced a shutdown at the expected time, although the performance of the engine appeared to change in the final minute of the burn.

ESA said Ariane 6 “passed” the test in a statement shortly afterwards, describing it as a “seven-minute full firing” of the engine, rather than the nearly eight minutes advertised beforehand.

So… pretty good overall? I’m looking forward to a potential launch date announcement. This gap between Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 is a bit sad…