Europe’s workhorse rocket has flown for the last time.
The mighty Ariane 5 launched today (July 5) as the last mission of its storied life, which began in 1996 and now includes 117 orbital liftoffs.
Today’s mission began at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT), when Ariane 5 lifted off from Europe’s spaceport in Courve, French Guiana. About 2.5 minutes into the flight, the vehicle’s 103-foot-tall (31.6 meters) solid rocket boosters separated from the center stage, and its single engine continued to burn, carrying the mission’s two satellites into the sky.
Nine minutes after liftoff the center stage shut down, and the upper stage separated and began its own combustion. After flying for about 30 minutes, the first satellite, called Heinrich-Hertz, was placed in a geostationary transfer orbit above Earth. About three minutes later, a second payload, known as the Syracuse 4B, followed suit.
„Ariane 5 completed its mission perfectly,” Stéphane Israël, CEO of France-based Arianespace, which operated the rocket, said in today’s launch webcast after that second deployment. „It’s really a legendary launcher now.”
Related: Top 10 Ariane 5 Rocket Launches of All Time
Heinrich-Hertz is an experimental communications satellite that will test new hardware and serve as a test bed for university and public sector science and technology experiments.
Its mission will be managed by the German Space Agency, known by the acronym DLR. Heinrich-Hertz was the first German satellite dedicated to such technology demonstration and communications research.
Syracuse 4B joins its predecessor, Syracuse 4A, which launched in 2021. The pair were built by Airbus Defense and Space for the French government, and are converting the Syracuse satellites 3A and 3B into military communications relays.
Both Heinrich-Hertz and Syracuse 4B are headed for geostationary orbits about 22,200 miles (35,800 kilometers) from Earth. They get there by performing a series of mechanical burns.
Today’s flight ended the nearly 30-year operational life of Ariane 5, which launched four other Ariane rockets before it.
„Ariane 5 leaves an incredible legacy of technological strength and reliability,” a spokesperson for the European Space Agency (ESA) told Space.com. „During its operational lifetime, Ariane 5 has been a great asset to Europe in ensuring its autonomous access to space.”
The two-stage rocket was operated by Arianespace for ESA and CNES, the French space agency, and was built by Airbus Defense and Space. Ariane 5 has undergone a few upgrades and flown in five different configurations. The most recent versions, Ariane 5 EC/A and ES, became operational in 2009. The predecessor design, Ariane G5, was launched from 2005 to 2009, after the short-lived G+ version, three missions were launched in 2004, and before that Ariane 5G premiered.
Ariane 5 was first launched in 1996, but failed to reach orbit on that launch, initiating a self-destructive shutdown mid-flight. After that initial failure, the rocket became one of the world’s most reliable missiles. In 117 missions of Ariane 5 and 239 payloads sent into orbit, the launch vehicle performed with a 96% success rate, according to ESA.
Development of Ariane 6, Ariane 5’s successor, has been ongoing for more than a decade. „Ariane 6 is a new launcher system that will be more flexible, cost-effective and deliver a wider range of launches compared to Ariane 5,” an ESA representative said. Europe’s new rocket is designed to fly in two configurations, the A62 and A64, carrying two and four solid rocket boosters.
The new heavy lifter was originally expected to debut in 2020, but setbacks have repeatedly pushed that goal further down the calendar. Ariane 6 is now expected to launch in late 2023, leaving a gap of launch options for Europe until it is ready.
„Where necessary, alternative launcher options have been explored and evaluated by ESA from a technical, schedule and safety point of view to ensure the continuity of service of European projects,” an ESA official said. In April, it was reported that the European Commission was exploring the possibility of using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch some of the EU’s Galileo navigation satellites without waiting for Ariane 6 to come online.
„ESA and its partners are working tirelessly to ensure a quick and reliable launch flight of Ariane 6, the preferred launch vehicle option for European missions requiring a heavy launch vehicle,” an agency spokesperson said.
Today’s Ariane 5 swan song was originally scheduled for June 16, but was scrubbed the day before due to problems with the solid rocket boosters’ pyrotechnical transmission lines. The next attempt planned for Tuesday (July 4) was abandoned due to bad weather.
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