European rocket Ariane 5 embarks on its final mission

The final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket took off from Kourou, French Guiana, on Wednesday evening after two postponements. The rocket, which is set to retire after 27 years of accomplishments for the European space sector, carried two French and German satellites.

Ariane 5 successfully launched at 7:00 PM local time (10:00 PM GMT) from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, following two previous launch delays: one on June 16th due to technical issues, and another on July 4th due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Approximately 30 minutes after liftoff, a French military communications satellite (Syracuse 4B) and a German experimental satellite successfully separated from the rocket.

The rocket's launch, originally scheduled for June 16th, was initially delayed due to a malfunction in one of the propulsion engines, which was subsequently replaced. It was then postponed a second time due to adverse winds at high altitudes above the Guiana Space Centre, resulting in a 24-hour delay.

On Wednesday evening, the rocket was launched in the presence of hundreds of spectators, including local officials and former French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira.

Some expressed their joy after the successful liftoff, while others applauded following the separation of the second stage of the rocket.

French Minister of Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, tweeted that placing the French satellite into orbit "represents a major turning point for our armed forces by providing improved performance and increased resistance to jamming."

This flight marks the 117th for the rocket, which had a challenging start, as it exploded after its first launch mission and faced another failure in 2002. According to Éric Gillibert, an engineer who worked on the rocket at the time, "It took two years to bring the rocket back into service."

After the incidents, the Ariane 5 rocket entered its golden age, marked by a series of successes. It was chosen by NASA to send the James Webb Space Telescope, which cost ten billion dollars. Following the launch in which the Rosetta spacecraft was sent to the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet (2004) and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer to Jupiter (April 2023), the rocket has gained significant prominence.

 

From a commercial perspective, the rocket has been a "progressive element in the space field in Europe," as confirmed by Daniel Neuenschwander, the Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency.

Twelve countries participated in the manufacturing of the heavy rocket, which replaced the Ariane 4 with its enhanced launch capabilities. This competitive advantage allowed Europe to establish itself in the satellite communications market.

Neuenschwander stated that Europe also benefited from a "comfort period" provided by the United States.

He continued, "We are currently witnessing a reverse situation," as Europe finds itself deprived of independent access to space.

The final flight of Ariane 5 follows months of anticipation, awaiting the transition to Ariane 6 by the end of 2023, at best.

Ariane 6, designed to be more powerful and competitive than Ariane 5 while costing half of its predecessor, aims to confront fierce competition in the rocket industry, particularly due to the dominance of the American company SpaceX, which conducts more than one launch operation per week.

Qualification tests for Ariane 6 are underway, but the atmosphere in Kourou is bleak. The retirement of Ariane 5 will result in the cancellation of 190 out of 1600 positions, as the new rocket requires fewer workers and entails reduced maintenance requirements.

 

AFP