You are right, something seems strange.
According to the FAQs it is not yet in full operation. But the alternative link is no longer valid. I’s really a mess…
Copernicus Sentinel-1 orbital products are available via the Copernicus Sentinels POD Data Hub. Until this service is in full operation, past orbit files can be downloaded from the Sentinel 1 Auxiliary data
The problem was that none of the persons responsible for SNAP was informed that the location of orbit files changed in March 2021. Since then, there are lots of problems. 90% are solved by installing the latest version (including all updates → 8.0.4), but there are also cases where this did not lead to success: Orbit file timeout (March 2021)