Ariane 5 ECA - Entering the operational phase
- Paper number
IAC-06-D2.1.01
- Author
Mr. Laurent Jourdainne, Arianespace, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Louis Laurent, Arianespace, France
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Following the initial Ariane 5 ECA flights of 2005 and 2006, this launch vehicle has now become Arianespace workhorse for telecommunication satellites. It is entering its full operational phase, starting a career that will bring international telecommunication operators as well as governmental bodies in Europe and around the world, an available and reliable powerful launch vehicle.
1. Initial flights results
During its first batch of initial launches, Ariane 5 ECA has demonstrated its capability to accommodate a range of payloads from most of the satellite manufacturers. General performances and satellite environment in particular has proven to be comparable with expected one. The paper will describe the first flights results and compare them with expected data. Lessons learnt from these flights will be described.
2. Industrialization activities
Following these important technical success, the next step is to confirm the reliability and the robustness of the launch system on the long run. The paper will describe how the Arianespace organization is working on the industrialisation of the Ariane 5 ECA vehicle. Main drivers of this activity are: - Stabilization of the configuration. Evolutions of flight hardware definition are limited to anomaly correction or industrial obsolescence. - Robustness demonstration thanks to extended analysis of flight data. - Availability and flexibility improvement thanks to industrial organization and production capability modification.
ESA programs (ARTA and ACEP) have been voted in December 2005 during the Ministerial Council to support this industrialization effort. The paper will describe main activities performed in these frame.
3. Arianespace next steps
Aside the industrialization of Ariane 5 ECA, the major challenges for Arianespace for the next years will be the preparation and the start of the exploitation of Soyuz and Vega from the Guiana Space Center. The paper will describe the status of these preparation activities from the operator point of view.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-D2.1.01.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.