Italy, France and Germany on Monday have reached a deal underpinning future launches of the delayed Ariane 6 and Avio's smaller Vega-C rockets, Italy's industry minister said. Europe's new heavyweight launcher built by ArianeGroup - an Airbus-Safran joint-venture - has been delayed by technical glitches and is due to stage its first test launch in 2024, four years behind the original plan. Beyond resolving the immediate technical problems, European states have been at odds over medium-term budgets and schedules stretching beyond the first 15 flights of Ariane 6.