Ariane 5 Program Status

Paper number

IAC-10,D2,2,4,x9240

Author

Mr. Denis Schmitt, Arianespace, France

Coauthor

Mr. Louis Laurent, Arianespace, France

Year

2010

Abstract

After the launch in December 2009 of the last Ariane 5 GS, Ariane 5 ECA and ES/ATV are now the only Ariane production lines operated by Arianespace to deliver a steady and reliable service which guarantees access to space to European governments and an effective and reliable launch service & solutions to Arianespace commercial customers.

The paper will present the results of recent Ariane 5 flights, the program status, an industrialisation example, some lessons learnt from the launches of this last period and the exploitation indicator evolutions.

While focusing on Ariane 5 activities, the paper will give an overview of the market and its projections in a long term future. It will then present some possible strategies for Arianespace to answer it.


\begin{enumerate}\item Recent flights results\end{enumerate} 

Since IAC09, five Ariane 5 flights have been launched, in particular the last A5GS to launch Helios 2B into SSO orbit in December 2009. The two Ariane 5 launched since beginning of 2010 raise to 37 the number of successful Ariane 5 flights in a row, including 24 Ariane 5 ECA. The current objective for 2010 is set to six or seven launches. The paper will describe the results of the last Ariane 5 flights and some corresponding lessons learnt.


\begin{enumerate}\item Program status\end{enumerate}

Arianespace technical policy remains to consolidate Ariane 5 production. This is achieved through two processes: quality audits whose last conclusions will be presented and production indicators whose trends will be discussed. 

Some Ariane 5 achievements in production have accompanied this consolidation with the objective of an improved industrialisation.


\begin{enumerate}\item A long term Arianespace view\end{enumerate}

With the success of Ariane 5, Vega and Soyuz in French Guiana services expected in the coming months, Arianespace should continue to prepare the future of European launchers policy.

A market forecast is the basis of Arianespace vision for this future. It drives with some confidence short term necessary evolutions, and gives some indications of possible orientations in the long term, in coherence with major launch system improvements and the development time of a new one.

Abstract document

IAC-10,D2,2,4,x9240.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-10,D2,2,4,x9240.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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