Arianespace has likely delayed the final launch of Ariane 5 by several weeks, after discovering a potential problem with the rocket’s pyrotechnic systems. On June 15, Arianespace announced that it has delayed the 117th and final launch of Ariane 5, scheduled for June 16 from Kourou, French Guiana. A brief statement made shortly after the rocket’s launch from the final assembly site was cancelled, only stated that the rocket was “at risk of redundancy of a critical function.”

Hours later, Pierre-Yves Tissier, Arianespace’s chief technical officer, told the company at a briefing hours later that an “inconsistency” was reported on pyrotechnic transmission lines similar to those used on Ariane 5 during acceptance tests for another program on June 9. The Ariane 5 X-ray checks raised questions about three lines on the vehicle: one used in the separation system for one of the two solid-state rocket thrusters, and two used in the “gap” system for the thrusters.

Both the separation system and the distance system have redundancy to make sure they work, but Tissier said the company’s policy is to only work without maintaining that redundancy. Arianespace then decided to test four lines with similar characteristics to the three suspect lines, and these tests took place on 14 and 15 June.

“Since not all of these tests were successful and therefore did not give us sufficient confidence in the reliability of the reserves, it was decided not to start the flight and to replace these suspicious lines,” he said.

Arianespace has not set a new launch date for the mission. Tissier said that the company will report developments regarding the change of lines in the last week of June and that it is planning a new launch attempt. That means a delay of at least a few weeks, possibly more.

The launch, called Arianespace VA261, carries two government communications satellites. One, the Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit, was built by OHB for the German Space Agency, working in collaboration with other German government agencies. The spacecraft will test advanced satellite communications technologies such as onboard processing. The other, Syracuse 4B, is a communications satellite built for the French military by the consortium of Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Alenia Space.

Once the launch happens, it will mark the retirement of Ariane 5. The vehicle made its first failed take-off in June 1996 and suffered a partial failure on its second launch in October 1997, followed by an unconditional success on its third launch in 1996. . October 1998. For most of its career, the Ariane 5 has been a major player in the commercial launch market, capable of launching two large static communications satellites simultaneously.

After the decommissioning of Ariane 5, Europe will temporarily lack the ability to launch large satellites with its own rockets. Arianespace expected the end of Ariane 5 to coincide with the release of Ariane 6, but the machine suffered development delays that delayed its initial launch by several years. Arianespace and the European Space Agency have not announced a new projected date for Ariane 6’s first launch, but executives at OHB, the program’s supplier, said in May that they expect the first launch to occur in early 2024.

Ariane 6 delays were exacerbated by the Vega C’s failure to land that vehicle in December 2022 and the withdrawal of a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This created what some in Europe call a “launcher crisis” for the continent.

“It’s true that for a few months we won’t have Europe’s independent access to space with our own rockets, but this is very temporary,” Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general, said during the Financial Times’ Investment on 5 June. . in space”. He noted that the Vega C should return to flight by the end of the year.

“If there are no suitable rockets for a few months, it’s bad anyway. I’m the first to call it a crisis,” he said. “But it’s not permanent.” Source