VS09 flight: Arianespace Names Independent Inquiry Commission

Following the major anomaly that occurred on August 22, 2014 during the Soyuz ST mission carrying two satellites in the Galileo constellation, Arianespace announced today, in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission, the appointment of an independent inquiry commission.
The commission is chaired by Peter Dubock, former ESA Inspector General. Its mandate is to establish the circumstances of the anomaly, to identify the root causes and associated aggravating factors, and make recommendations to correct the identified defect and to allow for a safe return to flight for all Soyuz launches from the Guiana Space Center (CSG).

The commission will start its work on August 28, 2014 and submit its initial conclusions as early as September 8, 2014.

The inquiry commission comprises the following members:

– Peter Dubock, former ESA Inspector General, Chairman
– Professor Guido Colasurdo, University of Roma “Sapienza”, full professor of flight mechanics
– Michel Courtois, former ESA Technical Director
– Paul Flament, European Commission, Head of Unit, Galileo and Egnos Programmes Management, DG for Entreprise and Industry.
– Giuliano Gatti, ESA, Galileo Program Technical Officer
– Professor Wolfgang Kubbat, former head of the Institute of Flight Systems and Automatic Control at the Technical University of Darmstadt
– Isabelle Rongier, CNES Inspector General
– Toni Tolker Nielsen, ESA Deputy Inspector General.
– To maintain links with the Russian partners in the Soyuz at CSG program, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, on request from the head of Arianespace, has designated Alexander Daniliuk, Deputy Director General of TsNIImash, as board liaison.

Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël said: “I would like to thank Peter Dubock for having accepted the chairmanship of this commission, which was appointed in conjunction with ESA and the European Commission and with the support of the space agencies from France (CNES), Germany (DLR) and Italy (ASI), along with a team of high-level European experts. The commission will now be able to carry out its work independently, operating under a very tight schedule. We sincerely hope that the commission’s recommendations will lead to a rapid resumption of missions, while ensuring the high reliability expected of our Soyuz launches from CSG.”