The Ariane 5 launch vehicle made its 100th flight yesterday, September 25th, carrying 2 communications satellites (Horizons-3e and Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38) successfully into their respective geosynchronous orbits high above the Earth.
Ariane 5 is another one of those rocket systems that could be described as a workhorse – it’s an incredibly capable booster in the European Space Agency’s fleet designed primarily to place communications satellites into their proper orbits, but fully capable of launching heavier payloads into low Earth orbit (such as the Automated Transfer Vehicle) or lighter payloads (such as Rosetta) out into deep space.
Ariane 5 is among my favorite boosters – it may not be the most reliable (having had 2 full failures and 3 partial failures in its 100 launch history) nor the most powerful, but it’s a beauty of a machine with a slightly more unique flight profile than most other boosters.
Yesterday’s launch, as mentioned above, makes the 100th flight of the Ariane 5 over a 22-year career. The vehicle is scheduled to be retired in 2022, after launching some more notable planned payloads, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, or the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer probe. It will be replaced by the Ariane 6 booster system.
Here, as always, is the launch footage – the 100th launch of the Ariane 5! Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFOWDDSM5k4
And for those wanting to see all 2 hours of the flight…
Interesting to note, the launch was delayed by a good bit while a “red” (no go) condition was worked out. Still, once the Ariane got off the ground it performed its job without any major issue. Always good!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_5_flight_VA243