#ariane 5

[spacefrontier]

Launch of an Ariane 5ES, carrying the Georges Lemaître ATV (ATV-5) to orbit. July 29, 2014.

ATV-5 was the fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle launched by the European Space Agency. Georges Lemaître carried 6.6 tonnes of experiments, spare parts, clothing, food, fuel, air, oxygen, and water to the International Space Station. With a total mass of 20.3 tonnes, ATV-5 was the heaviest spacecraft ever to be launched by an Ariane rocket.

Georges Lemaître ATV approaching the International Space Station. August 12, 2014.

In addition to transporting cargo, ATV-5 conducted two experiments: LIRIS (Laser InfraRed Imaging Sensors), a new autonomous rendezvous sensor that would allow future spacecraft to dock with uncooperative targets, such as orbital debris or sample capsules. LIRIS was used to dock with the ISS instead of the normal sensors. Break-Up Camera, which recorded the ATV in infrared as it disintegrated during atmospheric reentry. A reinforced black box was used to transmit accelerometer, magnetometer, and temperature readings to an Iridium satellite, but nearly 6,000 images were lost.

NASA 1, 2, 3, 4 ESA

[dragons-in-spaceee]

Felt I should draw something for such an amazing scientific feat!! I’m sooo excited for what this scope I going to bring to future science!!!

[lonestarflight]

Launch of an X-38-based crew vehicle onboard Arianespace's Ariane 5. Several X-38 variants beyond the Crew Return Vehicle were proposed, for crew/cargo launch and freeflying scientific missions.

Renders by brickmack: link

[spaceexp]

Ariane 5, orbital launches by year, 1996-2023

The 117th and final Ariane 5 was launched on July 5, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. local time carrying Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit for the German government and SYRACUSE 4B for the French Ministry of Defence.

[royalchildreneurope]

King Philippe of Belgium and Prince Gabriel of Belgium arrive at the Felix Eboue Airport to visit the ESA centre and attend the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket, in Cayenne, French Guiana -April 11th 2023.

[general-hugss]

[atomicjay42]

The last launch of Ariane 5 is around 10 minutes away. Watch if you can.

[paraparaparadigm]

[briery]

Ariane 5 launch, with on board MSG-1 satellite. (Hi-Res).

[danhertz]

[aldocerandaz]

Arianespace launches the final flight of Ariane 5 SpaceX performs one of the last flights of Starlink v1.5

Arianespace lanza el vuelo final de Ariane 5 SpaceX realiza uno de los últimos vuelos de Starlink v1.5 Se realizaron con éxito cuatro lanzamientos durante la semana del 2 al 9 de julio. El primero tuvo lugar el miércoles 5 de julio, con un cohete europeo realizando con éxito su 117° y último vuelo. Más adelante en la semana, SpaceX voló con éxito dos vuelos Falcon 9 con cargas útiles de…

[warningsine]

Faced with soaring global competition, the continent has unexpectedly found itself without a way to independently launch heavy missions into space due to delays to the next-generation Ariane 6 and Russia withdrawing its rockets.

The 117th and final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket took place around 2200 GMT on Wednesday from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The launch had been postponed twice. It was originally scheduled on June 16, but was called off because of problems with pyrotechnical lines in the rocket's booster, which have since been replaced.

Then Tuesday's launch was delayed by bad weather.

The Wednesday night flight went off without a hitch, watched by hundreds of spectators, including former French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, and was greeted with applause.

Marie-Anne Clair, the director of the Guiana Space Centre, told AFP that the final flight of Ariane 5 was "charged with emotion" for the teams in Kourou, where the rocket's launches have punctuated life for nearly three decades.

The final payload on Ariane 5 is a French military communications satellite and a German communications satellite.

The satellite "marks a major turning point for our armed forces: better performance and greater resistance to jamming," French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu tweeted.

Though it would become a reliable rocket, Ariane 5 had a difficult start. Its maiden flight exploded moments after liftoff in 1996. Its only other such failure came in 2002.

Herve Gilibert, an engineer who was working on Ariane 5 at the time, said the 2002 explosion was a "traumatic experience" that "left a deep impression on us".

But the rocket would embark on what was ultimately a long string of successful launches.

The initial stumbles had "the positive effect of keeping us absolutely vigilant," Gilibert said.

Webb and Juice

Ariane 5 earned such a reputation for reliability that NASA trusted it to launch the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope in late 2021.

The rocket's second-last launch was in April, blasting the European Space Agency's Juice spacecraft on its way to find out whether Jupiter's icy moons can host alien life.

Daniel Neuenschwander, the ESA's head of human and robotic exploration, said that in commercial terms, Ariane 5 had been "the spearhead of Europe's space activities".

The rocket was able to carry a far bigger load than its predecessor Ariane 4, giving Europe a competitive advantage and allowing the continent to establish itself in the communication satellite market.

While waiting for Ariane 6, whose first launch was initially scheduled for 2020, Europe had been relying on Russia's Soyuz rockets to get heavy-load missions into space.

But Russia withdrew space cooperation with Europe in response to sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The number of launches from Kourou fell from 15 in 2021 to six last year.

Another blow came in December, when the first commercial flight of the next-generation Vega C light launcher failed. Last week, another problem was detected in the Vega C's engine, likely pushing its return further into the future.

- 'Difficult times' -

The launcher market has been increasingly dominated by billionaire Elon Musk's US firm SpaceX, whose rockets are now blasting off once a week.

Lacking other options, the ESA was forced to turn to rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 for the successful launch of its Euclid space telescope on Saturday.

The ESA will also use a SpaceX rocket to launch satellites for the EarthCARE observation mission.

It remains unclear how the agency will launch the next round of satellites for the European Union's Galileo global navigation system.

At the Paris Air Show earlier this month, ESA chief Josef Aschbacher acknowledged that these were "difficult times," adding that everyone was "working intensely" to get Ariane 6 and Vega-C ready.

Ariane 6 was unveiled on a launch pad in Kourou earlier this month ahead of an ignition test of its Vulcain 2.1 rocket engine.

Because the new rocket requires less staffing and maintenance, 190 out of 1,600 positions are being cut at the Kourou spaceport.

[spaceflight-insider]

Ariane 5 rocket bids adieu after 27 years of service

The final launch of the Ariane 5 rocket. Credit: Arianespace Nearly three decades after its debut launch, Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket has taken to the skies one last time, carrying a pair of communications satellites bound for geostationary orbit. Continue reading Untitled

[sansfeargaldin]

3x42 Lanzamiento de JUICE a Júpiter

Buenas, aquí otro gran evento de la humanidad, se espera que de esta misión podamos aprender mucho de nuestro sistema. Esperamos que os guste y os esperamos en Twitch; saga_galdin, donde grabamos el podcast en directo. Síguenos en instagram @sagagaldin para enterarte de cuándo y qué estamos preparando. Saludos. Podéis acceder a este contenido en nuestra sección de Podcast o directamente en este…

[kosmos-x]

К Юпитеру запущена миссия JUICE. Она будет исследовать его спутники, на которых, возможно, есть внезеная жизнь. Видео пуска и обзор миссии.

К Юпитеру запущена европейская миссия JUICE, которая будет изучать его спутники: Ганимед, Каллист... Читать дальше »

[royalchildreneurope]

King Philippe of Belgium and Prince Gabriel of Belgium depart from Brussels airport to French Guiana, to visit the ESA centre and attend the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket, in Brussels, Belgium -April 11th 2023.