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Launching Ariane
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Ariane 5 sets another payload record 08-24-2016 | 4 minutes
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Ariane 5 has just made its 73rd consecutive successful launch, placing 2 telecommunications satellites in orbit
The launcher beat its existing payload record of more than 10.7 tonnes, set by the previous launch
The Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from the European spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana) and successfully placed two telecommunications satellites in geostationary transfer orbit on behalf of the operator Intelsat.
This time, the launch performance achieved by the Ariane 5 ECA was 10,735kg (of which 9,853 kg was accounted for by the satellites), thus improving the payload record of 10,730 kg set on June18, also by an Ariane 5 ECA.
Airbus Safran Launchers is lead contractor for the Ariane 5 launchers.
The company coordinates an industrial network of more than 550 companies in 12 European countries (including more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Airbus Safran Launchers oversees the industrial chain as a whole, manages launcher performance evolution from production to final integration with the mission’s flight software. This chain includes equipment and structures, manufacture of the engines, integration of the various stages and then final integration of the launcher in French Guiana.
The Ariane 5 launcher spearheads European know-how and is one of the most wide-ranging and ambitious space programmes in the world. Its flexibility enables it to carry heavy payloads into low Earth orbit, two satellites into geostationary transfer orbit, a single satellite with an optimised service lifetime, or several satellites to medium Earth orbit.
Airbus Safran Launchers is also industrial lead contractor for Europe’s future Ariane 6 launcher, which is scheduled for its maiden flight in 2020 and which will replace Ariane 5 in about 2023.
The Ariane 232 flight in figures:
- 87th launch of an Ariane 5,
- 57th aunch of an Ariane 5 ECA
- 61st consecutive success by a launcher fitted with a Vulcain® 2 engine
“What might appear to be just few more kilos (5 more than the previous launch) between this payload record and the previous one is in fact a symbol of the constant commitment by our teams, on behalf of our customers, to improve the performance and competitiveness of the Ariane 5 launcher, whose extreme reliability has once again been confirmed”, Alain Charmeau, CEO of Airbus Safran Launchers, was happy to announce. “On the occasion of this further success, I wish to thank Arianespace, ESA and CNES for their confidence and their support.”
