New Launch Delay For Ariane Heavy Rocket

LAUNCH PAD

File image of the Ariane 5 ECA.

Paris (AFP) Feb 09, 2005
The launch of Europe's Ariane 5 heavy rocket, scheduled for Friday, has been delayed by 24 hours, the launch company Arianespace announced on Wednesday.

"During final tests in preparation for the launch, an anomaly appeared on ground equipment," it said in a press release, without disclosing the nature of the problem.

"As a result, Arianespace has decided to replace the equipment... The operation will take 24 hours."

The launcher, called the Ariane 5 ECA, designed to place payloads weighing up to 10 tonnes into geostationary orbit, suffered a catastrophic failure on its maiden flight in December 2002.

In 2003, the European Space Agency (ESA) stumped up 550 million euros in funds to fix the problem, blamed on a design flaw in its Vulcain-2 engine. The second flight has already been delayed several times.

Arianespace markets ESA's range of rockets for commercial launches.

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LAUNCH PAD

Ariane 5 ECA Prepares For Launch

French Guiana (SPX) Feb 07, 2005
Preparations are well underway for the qualification flight of Europe's latest launcher, the Ariane-5 ECA, from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The launch window opens on the evening of 11 February at 16:49 (20:49 CET) and will extend until 18:10 (22:10 CET).

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