Ariane 5: last flight in rocket history delayed due to anomaly

The last flight of the Ariane 5, which was scheduled to take off Friday evening from Kourou in French Guiana, was delayed to an unspecified date due to an anomaly, Arianespace reported on Thursday. “It appears that there is a risk of duplicating a critical feature on Ariane 5. Due to security concerns, Arianespace has made the decision to delay the deployment of the launcher,” the company explained in a tweet.

“An analysis is currently underway to determine a new launch date,” added Arianespace, which is responsible for operating European launchers. This 117th and final flight of the European rocket, which is bidding farewell after 27 years of service, is to put a French military communications satellite (Syracuse 4B) and an experimental German satellite into orbit.

Empty period for Europe in space

“The launcher and the Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit and Syracuse 4B satellites are in the final assembly building in a stabilized configuration and with all necessary safety conditions,” Arianespace said. Takeoff was scheduled for Friday from 21:26 to 22:01 GMT from the Guiana Space Center (CSG).

This latest flight comes at a low time in space for Europe, with almost no autonomous access to space waiting for the Ariane 6 while the competition rages on. We are talking about the brutal cessation of the operation of Russian Soyuz missiles after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to a decrease in the activity of the Kourou base.

The failure of the first commercial launch of the Vega C light launcher in December 2022 and the cumulative delays of the future Ariane 6 have worsened the situation, with only one Vega launch remaining after the last Ariane 5 flight in September. , and a likely return to Vega-C flights at the end of the year.