The Ariane Family

The name Ariane refers to a series of a civilian European expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. The name comes from the French spelling of the mythological character Ariadne.

France first proposed the Ariane project in the 1970s. The project was Europe's second attempt to develop its own launcher following the unsuccessful Europa project. The Ariane project was code-named L3S (the French acronym for third-generation substitution launcher). The European Space Agency has oversight of the development of all Ariane launchers and of the testing facilities; while Arianespace, a commercial entity, handles production, operations and marketing.

Arianespace launches Ariane rockets from the Centre Spatial Guyanais at Kourou in French Guiana, where the proximity to the equator gives a significant advantage for the launch.

The several versions of the launcher include:

• Ariane 1, first successful launch on December 24, 1979
• Ariane 2, first successful launch on November 20, 1987 (the first launch on May 30, 1986 failed)
• Ariane 3, first successful launch on August 4, 1984
• Ariane 4, first successful launch on June 15, 1988
• Ariane 5, first successful launch on October 30, 1997 (the first launch on June 4, 1996 failed).

An upgraded version of Ariane 5, (designated "ECA" for Cryogenic Upper Stage and destined to carry a total 10 tonne payload into geostationary transfer orbit), failed on its first flight on 11 December 2002. The fault lay in the Vulcain-II engine nozzle which overheated. Launches were pursued with the original generic version. After redesign of the Vulcain-II engine and considerable improvements to the entire vehicle, the second Ariane 5-ECA flight was successfully accomplished on 12 February 2005.

Models

Flyable models of the Ariane 4 and 5 are available as kit from NORIS. In 1987 a 5.40 meter long flyable model of the Ariane, which is located today in the Hermann-Oberth-Museum in Feucht by Lambert Shelter. A 4.5 meter long and 85 kilogram heavy flyable model of the Ariane 4, which was built by a working group of the ARGOS, was launched 2002 in Amarillo, Texas and on 19 September 2004 at 12.15 o'clock successfully in the Val de Ruz near Neuchatel, Switzerland.

As of January 2002 145 Ariane flights had boosted 247 satellites, successfully placing 230 in orbit.

See also: Diamant, Europa rocket