Ariane Flight 142 August 3: The Inquiry Board submits its report

The independent Inquiry Board investigating Ariane 5’s EPS upper stage
malfunction during Flight 142 submitted its report to Arianespace as
scheduled on August 1.

The seven-member board was appointed July 16 following the malfunction in
Ariane 5’s EPS storable propellant upper stage that occurred during Flight
142 on July 12. This malfunction resulted in the mission’s dual satellite
payload being delivered to a lower than expected orbit.

The Ariane Management Committee will review the board’s recommendations
today, followed immediately by notification of the findings to Arianespace
customers.

Details of the board’s investigation and its findings will be released next
week.

Arianespace expects to apply the board’s recommendations as quickly as
possible.

Launch activities are continuing at the Guiana Space Center, and
Arianespace’s next mission, Flight 143, remains on schedule for August 24
with an Ariane 4. Flight 143 will use an Ariane 44L version of Ariane 4 to
orbit the Intelsat 902 communications satellite.

Arianespace’s flight manifest for the remainder of 2001 will be announced on
launch day for Flight 143