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<\/p>\nA milestone over 22 years in the making. Tuesday saw the Ariane 5 rocket conduct its 100th flight, placing two telecommunications satellites into orbit in the process. The Ariane 5, managed and operated by Arianespace, lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana in South America at the end of a 45-minute launch window at 22:38 UTC (18:38 EDT) following a hold during the countdown.<\/p>\n
The 100th flight of Ariane 5 also marked the 300th mission of Arianespace\u2019s three-member rocket family. Arianespace, founded in 1980, is a multinational company responsible for the operation and commercial marketing of the Ariane launch program.<\/p>\n
Ariane 5\u2019s history<\/b>:<\/p>\n
The Ariane 5 rocket was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to be a heavy-lift launcher used to deliver payloads to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) and Low Earth Orbit. <\/p>\n
Manufactured under the direction of ESA and the Centre National d\u2019Etudes Spatiales (CNES) of France, Ariane 5 succeeded its predecessor, Ariane 4, but was not derived from it \u2013 instead being developed from a completely new slate. <\/p>\n
Under its original configuration, known as Ariane 5 G (\u201cG\u201d standing for \u201cgeneric\u201d), the European heavy-lift vehicle had a total payload capacity of 6,900 kg (15,200 lb) for a single satellite or 6,100 kg (13,400 lb) for dual satellite launches into GTO when it debuted on 4 June 1996.<\/p>\n
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The very first Ariane 5 on its launch pad in South America before its maiden voyage in June 1996. (Credit: ESA\/Arianespace)<\/p>\n
The Ariane 5 G flew 16 times from June 1996 to 27 September 2003. Of those 16 flights, 13 were complete successes, two were partial failures (first stage and upper stage performance issues, respectively), and one (its maiden voyage) was a mission-loss failure when the rocket exploded 37 seconds after T0 due to multiple software design failures.<\/p>\n
Just over six years after its introduction, the first major upgrade to Ariane 5 was brought online \u2013 the Ariane 5 ECA.<\/p>\n
Astronomy (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n The ECA (Evolution Cryotechnique type A) variant entered service on 11 December 2002, flying with an improved Vulcain 2 engine for first stage propulsion \u2013 which required elongation of the first stage propellant tanks.<\/p>\n Moreover, the ECA variant\u2019s second stage was changed to the more efficient ESC-A (Etage Sup\u00e9rieur Cryog\u00e9nique-A) \u2013 derived in part from Ariane 4\u2019s third stage \u2013 while the twin solid rocket boosters were cast with more propellant and their casings lightened.<\/p>\n The overall changes gave the Ariane 5 ECA variant a total GTO payload capability of 9,600 kg (21,200 lb) for single payload flights and 9,100 kg (20,100 lb) for dual payload launches.<\/p>\n Since its introduction, the ECA variant has flown 66 times (the launch was its 67th flight) with 64 or 65 (depending on who you ask) total successes, 1 launch failure (its maiden flight), and 1 partial failure\/1 mission success (again, depending on who you ask) flight where the two satellites were deployed into the wrong orbit but were able to reach their planned orbits within a few months.<\/p>\n An Ariane 5 ECA variant on the launch pad in September 2017. (Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Piron)<\/p>\n After the first-flight of the ECA variant and the final flight of the G variant, ESA, CNES, and Arianespace introduced the Ariane 5 G+ in 2004, which increased the total GTO payload capacity from the G variant for single payload launches to 7,100 kg (15,200 lb) and 6,300 kg (13,900 lb) for dual satellite missions.<\/p>\n The G+ Ariane 5 flew 3 times, all in 2004. All of its missions were successful.<\/p>\n After the G+ variant\u2019s final flight, an unanticipated variant entered service \u2013 the GS.<\/p>\n The Ariane 5 GS was a short-term solution and gap-filler following the maiden launch failure of the Ariane 5 ECA.<\/p>\n At the time of the December 2002 first-flight ECA launch failure, all Ariane 5 launchers in production were ECA variants. To ensure continuation of launch operations during the ECA failure investigation, redesign, and recovery, some of the ECA cores were modified to use the original Vulcain engine.<\/p>\n These vehicles were designated Ariane 5 GS.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/21272577_1554724067899269_2968682206350455487_n-2.jpg\")
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