Latest Ariane 4 Stories

An Ariane 5 solid-propellant booster was test-fired on Thursday, May 24 at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to help improve the reliability of Europe’s heavy launcher. The firing was performed in the booster engine stand, specifically designed for the vertical testing of motors at the site. The motor burned for about 135 seconds, simulating the firing time during an Ariane 5 flight, and delivered a mean thrust of 700 t. One of the goals was to prove new, thinner thermal...

[ Watch the Video ] Early Wednesday morning, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, JCSAT-13 and Vinasat-2, into their planned transfer orbits. Liftoff of flight VA206, the 62nd Ariane 5 mission, came at 22:13 GMT (00:13 CEST; 19:13 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 249.9 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 911 km and an inclination of 2°. The...

An Ariane 5 launcher lifted off on May 20 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, ST-2 and GSAT-8, into their planned transfer orbits. Flight VA202 was the third Ariane 5 launch of 2011.Liftoff of the 58th Ariane 5 mission came at 22:38 CEST (20:38 GMT; 17:38 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 249 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 947 km and an inclination of 2.5º.The satellites were...

An Ariane rocket carrying two communications satellites, one for a UAE company and another for a South African company, had the launch aborted on Wednesday, Reuters is reporting. Launch officials only explained that the abort was due to a technical glitch with the rocket's main engine. The attempted launch was from the European Space Agency's launch site in Kourou, French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America."We will now have to test and see why the abort took place and when liftoff...

European Space Agency (ESA) members decided on Friday they will put an additional $339 million into the Ariane 5 program so the rockets can continue to be used.Arianespace, the company that operates the vehicle, made losses in each of the past two years, even though it is the dominant player in its market. ESA agreed to the funding during a two-day council meeting in Paris. The decision follows an assessment of the costs of running the rocket system. This assessment was intended to gauge...

Last night, an Ariane 5 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on a journey to place two telecommunications satellites, W3B and BSAT-3b, into orbit. Flight V197 was Ariane 5's fourth dual-payload mission of the year.Liftoff of the 53rd Ariane 5 mission came at 23:51 CEST (21:51 GMT; 18:51 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 913 km and an inclination of 2º.The satellites were accurately injected into...

Yesterday evening, an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, Nilesat-201 and Rascom-QAF1R, into geostationary transfer orbits.Liftoff of flight V196, the 52nd Ariane 5 mission, took place at 22:59 CEST (20:59 GMT; 17:59 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 919 km and an inclination of 2º.The satellites were accurately...

Last night, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on a journey to place two telecommunications satellites, NSS-12 and Thor 6, into geostationary transfer orbits. Flight V192 was the sixth Ariane 5 launch of 2009 and the fourth dual-payload mission.Liftoff of the 48th Ariane 5 mission took place at the start of the launch window: 21:00 CET (20:00 UTC; 17:00 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at...

Yesterday evening, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, Amazonas 2 and ComSatBw-1, into geostationary transfer orbits.Lift-off of flight V191, the 47th Ariane 5 launch, took place at 23:59 CEST (21:59 UTC; 18:59 French Guiana). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 786 km and an inclination of 3º. The satellites were accurately...

Early on the morning of August 22, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, JCSat-12 and Optus D3, into geostationary transfer orbits.Lift-off of flight V190 took place at 00:09 CEST/Paris (22:09 UTC/GMT [21 August]; 19:09 UTC-3/French Guiana [21 August]). The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 250 km, an apogee altitude at injection of 35 786 km and an inclination of two degrees. The...