Ariane suffers a setback

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 14. The Arianespace Agency suffered a rare setback on Friday, when its `flight 142' which took off from the Kourou spaceport ended up in a `lower than expected orbit.'

A communication from Ariane's spokesperson in India, Ms. Rashmi Naik, of Corporate Voice Shandwick, said that ``the first data analysis from the Ariane 510 launcher (flight 142) indicates that the targeted orbits for the ARTEMIS (for the European Space Agency (ESA) built by Alenia Spazioand) BSAT-2 B (for Japanese operator B-SAT built by Orbital Sciences Corporation) telecommunication satellites was not reached. Both satellites separated on an orbit of 17,528 km apogee, 592 km perigee and 2.9 degrees inclination for a targeted orbit of 35,853 km apogee, 858 km perigee and 2 degrees inclination. The two customers confirmed that they had taken control of their satellites which were put in a safe mode''.

The flight was nominal for the first nine minutes after which a problem seems to have occurred. Ariane has concluded that the first stages - EAP-EPC - performed under ``nominal'' conditions. ``A propulsion anomaly of the storable propellant second stage that occurred in the beginning of its propulsion phase has caused this less than expected orbit,'' a press release posted at the Arianespace agency's website said.

Ariane 5 and its newer versions under development, are touted as the launch vehicles of the future and will be capable of carrying very heavy satellites in the years to come. Ariane 5 upper stage sues MMH fuel and Nitrogen dioxide (N2O4) oxidiser that are fed from pressurised tanks to its Aestus engine.

Meanwhile, Ariane announced the constitution of an ``independent inquiry board,'' to investigate the upper stage propulsion anomaly. Members of the board will be named on July 16 and the report is expected to be ready by August 1.

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