ARIANE 5 flightworthiness validation by the independent qualification authority
- Paper number
IAC-08.D2.1.4
- Author
Mr. Bernard Chemoul, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Toni Tolker -Nielsen, European Space Agency (ESA), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Didier Le Strat , Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Julio Monreal, European Space Agency (ESA), France
- Year
2008
- Abstract
ARIANE 5 launcher is presently the European workhorse for access to space for various commercial or institutional missions. This launch system is operated by ARIANESPACE and produce mainly under the responsibility of an industrialist prime contractor: ASTRIUM. With 24 successful launches in row, the ARIANE 5 is completely operational and industrial. The core of reliability is in the design choices but also in the ability to produce it under a significant production flow rate. As a matter of fact the flow rate of the last years was 6 launchers per year, but, thank to the ARIANESPACE backlog, the objective is to have currently 7 launches in a year and targeting 8 per year in the next years. ARIANE 5 is a strategic tool for Europe for access to space. It should be available and reliable for any governmental missions which purpose are science, earth monitoring, meteorology or defence. So, whatever the mission, commercial or governmental, it is considered as a paramount of importance that the risks are mastered and the reliability is guaranteed. So, taking into account the long experience in launcher exploitation, a particular process has been implemented to check for each flight all the technical facts (anomaly or waiver or modification) which occur in launch preparation. CNES has leaded the design of ARIANE 5 during the development programme. For each launch, CNES, acting as qualification Authority on behalf of ESA, performs independent cross checking of industrial file in order to confirm the flightworthiness of launcher hardware and the acceptability of the mission options with regard to the qualified domain and the safety rules. The process of verification includes modelling of mechanical or propulsive system with in-house model, flight simulation, analysis of hardware pedigree, checking of manufacturing process thank to quality monitoring. At each ARIANE flight a complete file is issued by CNES detailing all verifications made and giving the Qualification Authority recommendations and notices regarding the flightworthiness. This process is completed by the activities undertaken under the programme ARTA whose the objective is to ensure the qualification keeping. The content of this programme is composed of flight assessments, sample tests of different subsystems including electrical equipments or large engines, and, obsolescence dealing with dedicated qualification activities. This programme, implemented in industry under the responsibility of ESA is managed with the CNES team. It constitutes an important and efficient tool for the qualification authority. Moreover, the results obtained by this programme allow improving significantly the reliability of the ARIANE 5 launch system.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.D2.1.4.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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