Status Report

Arianespace Flight 130 Postponed

By SpaceRef Editor
July 13, 2000
Filed under

Arianespace Flight 130 Postponed
 
7/13/00
 
Arianespace has postponed the launch of Flight 130 until an upper stage anomaly detected during endurance testing on Ariane 5 components in Europe is resolved.
The delay was decided after an anomaly was detected during a long duration ground test of the attitude control system for the future "Versatile" version of Ariane 5’s EPS upper stage.
 
As a result, a preventive action was taken for the similar attitude control system on the Ariane 5 launcher that currently is undergoing preparations in French Guiana for Flight 130. Additional checks could not yet confirm the flight readiness of attitude control system hardware installed on the Flight 130 vehicle.
 
In compliance with its policy to give absolute priority to quality and reliability, Arianespace will not authorize the launch of Flight 130 until all causes of the anomaly have been completely analyzed, and corrective measures applied, if needed.
 
Flight 130 had been scheduled for liftoff on July 25, using an Ariane 5 heavy-lift launcher to orbit the Astra 2B satellite for Luxembourg’s SociÈtÈ EuropÈenne des Satellites (SES) and the GE-7 satellite for U.S. operator GE Americom.
 
Arianespace expects to announce a new launch date for Flight 130 soon, with the mission now being targeted for the first half of September.
 
Arianespace’s next launch will be Flight 131, which is slated for August 11. This mission will use an Ariane 4 (in the 44LP version) to orbit the Brasilsat B4 and Nilesat 102 telecommunications satellites.

SpaceRef staff editor.