Our daily flight around the world

🚀 The European Space Agency (ESA) completed the maiden launch of its Ariane 6 rocket. Ariane 6, standing 207 feet tall, was built by a joint venture of Airbus and Safran as part of a nearly $4.5 billion ESA program. The rocket’s debut yesterday follows years of delays caused by technical issues, the Covid pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war. The ESA hopes Ariane 6 will make the space agency more self-reliant when it comes to launching satellites, and potentially help it challenge SpaceX’s dominance in the global market.

🇦🇷 Argentina, a major lithium producer, is further ramping up production. Buenos Aires reportedly plans to open four new lithium mines in the coming months, which will increase Argentina’s overall lithium mining capacity by ~80%. Lithium is seen as a key part of the global transition to greener economies, since it’s used to manufacture the lithium-ion batteries present in EVs, cellphones, laptops, and other electronics. Analysts say Argentina is on track to jump from the world's fourth-largest lithium producer to second place globally by 2030.

🇪🇸 Barcelona locals protested mass tourism by spraying visitors with water. Nearly 3,000 people gathered in Barcelona over the weekend to protest against overtourism, which they say has spiked the cost of living and caused environmental damage. City officials recently announced a series of measures to curb the impacts of overtourism, including plans to increase a nightly tourist tax and end tourist apartment rentals by 2028.