List of Ariane launches (2020–2029)
This is a list of launches performed or scheduled to be performed by Ariane launch vehicles between 2020 and 2029. During this time, the Ariane 5 was retired in favour of the Ariane 6 rocket.
List of Ariane launches |
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1979–1989 · 1990–1999 · 2000–2009 · 2010–2019 · 2020–2029 |
Launch statistics
Launch history
Source: Arianespace Press Kits [1]
2020
Flight No. | Date Time (UTC) |
Rocket type Serial No. |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customers | Launch outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VA251 | 16 January 2020 21:05 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5110 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
Eutelsat Konnect GSAT-30 |
6,976 kg | GTO | Eutelsat ISRO |
Success |
Eutelsat communications satellite and ISRO communications satellite. | ||||||||
VA252 | 18 February 2020 22:18 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5111 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
JCSAT-17 GEO-KOMPSAT 2B |
9,236 kg | GTO | SKY Perfect JSAT KARI |
Success |
SKY Perfect JSAT communications satellite and KARI meteorological satellite. | ||||||||
VA253 | 15 August 2020 22:04 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5112 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
Galaxy 30 MEV-2 BSAT-4b |
9,703 kg | GTO | Intelsat Northrop Grumman BSAT |
Success |
Flight VA253 was planned to launch in June 2020.[2] However, launch campaign activities were significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To prevent the spread in French Guiana and protect Centre Spatial Guyanais employees, all launch activities were suspended on 16 March 2020.[3][4][5] Operations for Vega flight VV16 and Ariane 5 flight VA253 could not resume until 28 April 2020.[6][7][8] VA253 activities were listed among the top priorities at the reopening of the Guiana Space Center on 11 May 2020.[9] The launch was rescheduled for end of July 2020[7][10][11] to place the satellites into a geostationary transfer orbit from which they will eventually be placed into geostationary orbit through their own propulsion. The flight was again aborted on 28 July 2020, due to a "red" warning in the system, resulting from a sensor problem related to LH2 tank on the core stage.
American satellite operator Intelsat and Japanese Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) are the customers for Ariane flight VA253.[12][13] Galaxy 30 is a communications satellite built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK) on the GEOStar-2 platform for Intelsat. It has C-band, Ku-band, Ka-band payloads, as well as a WAAS payload for a mass of 3,325 kilograms (7,330 lb).[14] Built in satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia, it will primarily serve video markets in North America.[15] As per Intelsat/Arianespace contract announced in January 2018,[16] Galaxy 30 would share the upper berth of the Ariane 5 ECA rocket with MEV-2, which is a Northrop Grumman second satellite servicing vehicle, identical to MEV-1. With a mass of 2,326 kilograms (5,128 lb), it would begin a five-year mission to extend the lifetime of Intelsat 10-02.[17] MEV-2 received FCC authorization on 25 March 2020.[18] BSAT-4b is the second communications satellite of the fourth generation B-SAT, built by SSL (company) on its SSL 1300 platform. It has 24 Ku-band transponders and mass of 3,520 kilograms (7,760 lb).[19] | ||||||||
2021
Flight No. | Date Time (UTC) |
Rocket type Serial No. |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customers | Launch outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VA254 | 30 July 2021 21:00 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5113 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
Eutelsat Quantum Star One D2 |
10,515 kg | GTO | Eutelsat Star One |
Success |
Brazilian Satellite operator Embratel and European Eutelsat were customers on the VA254 flight.[20]
Eutelsat Quantum is a European re-programmable telecommunications satellite equipped with Ku-band payload, developed in a public-private partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA), Eutelsat and Airbus Defence and Space.[17] It had a launch mass of approximately 3,461 kilograms (7,630 lb) and a design lifetime of 15 years.[21] Star One D2 is a telecommunications satellite equipped with C-, Ku-, Ka- and X-band payloads for high-speed telecommunications, television broadcast and fast broadband in South America, Mexico, Central America, and parts of the Atlantic Ocean.[14] It had a launch mass of approximately 6,190 kilograms (13,650 lb) and a design lifetime of 15 years.[21] The target orbit was a geosynchronous transfer orbit with an apogee altitude of 250 kilometres (160 mi) and a perigee altitude of 35,726 kilometres (22,199 mi), at an inclination of 3°.[21] The mission was planned to last 36 minutes and 24 seconds.[21][lower-alpha 1] | ||||||||
VA255 | 24 October 2021 02:10 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5115 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
SES-17 Syracuse 4A |
10,264 kg | GTO | SES S.A. DGA |
Success |
SES S.A. communications satellite and Direction générale de l'armement military communications satellite. | ||||||||
VA256 | 25 December 2021 12:20 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5114 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) | 6,161.4 kg | Sun–Earth L2 | NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI | Success |
James Webb Space Telescope. |
2022
Flight No. | Date Time (UTC) |
Rocket type Serial No. |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customers | Launch outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VA257 | 22 June 2022 21:50 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5116 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
MEASAT-3d GSAT-24 |
9,829 kg | GTO | MEASAT NSIL / Tata Play |
Success |
MEASAT communications satellite and NSIL communications satellite. | ||||||||
VA258 | 7 September 2022 21:45 |
Ariane 5 ECA 5117 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
Eutelsat Konnect VHTS | 6,400 kg | GTO | Eutelsat | Success |
Eutelsat communications satellite. | ||||||||
VA259 | 13 December 2022 20:30 |
Ariane 5 ECA
5118 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
Galaxy 35 Galaxy 36 MTG-I1 |
10,972 kg | GTO | Intelsat EUMETSAT |
Success |
Intelsat communications satellite and EUMETSAT meteorological satellite. |
2023
Flight No. | Date Time (UTC) |
Rocket type Serial No. |
Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customers | Launch outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VA260 | 14 April 2023 12:14 |
Ariane 5 ECA
5120 |
Kourou ELA-3 |
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) | 5,963 kg | Jovicentric | ESA | Success |
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer. | ||||||||
VA-261 | 5 July 2023 22:00 |
Ariane 5 ECA | Kourou ELA-3 |
Syracuse 4B (Comsat-NG 2)[23] Heinrich Hertz (H2Sat) |
6950 kg[24] | GTO | DGA DLR |
Success |
Ariane 5's last mission. |
- Statistics for flight VA254:[22]
- 330th Arianespace launch (6th in 2021)
- 254th Ariane launch (1st in 2021)
- 110th Ariane 5 launch (1st in 2021)
- 947th and 948th satellites put in orbit by Arianespace (151st and 152nd in 2021)
- 12th Embratel satellite launched by Arianespace
- 36th Eutelsat satellite launched by Arianespace
- 85th consecutive rated operation of the Vulcain 2 engine
- 110th consecutive rated operation of the EAP solid rocket boosters
- 150th consecutive rated operation of the HM7B engine
Future launches
Date Time (UTC) |
Rocket type Serial No. |
Payload | Orbit | Customers | Launch status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2024[25] | Ariane 62 | Multiple rideshare payloads[26] | LEO | PTS, TU Berlin, ArianeGroup, BarcelonaTech, NASA, TUKE, University of Lisbon | Planned |
2024[27] | Ariane 62 | CSO-3 | SSO | CNES / DGA | Planned |
2024[28] | Ariane 62 | Electra | GTO | SES S.A. / ESA | Planned |
2024[29] | Ariane 62 | Galileo FOC FM 25, 26 | MEO | ESA | Planned |
2024[29] | Ariane 62 | Galileo FOC FM 27, 28 | MEO | ESA | Planned |
2024[29][30] | Ariane 62 | Galileo FOC FM 29, 30 | MEO | ESA | Planned |
Q4 2024[31] | Ariane 64 | MTG-S1[32] | GTO | EUMETSAT | Planned |
2024[33] | Ariane 62 | Galileo FOC FM 31, 32 | MEO | ESA | Planned |
2024[34] | Ariane 6 | Galileo G2 1 | MEO | ESA | Planned |
2024[35][36] | Ariane 64 | Optus-11 | GTO | Optus | Planned |
2024[37][38] | Ariane 64 | Uhura-1 (Node-1)[39] | GTO | Skyloom | Planned |
2025[33] | Ariane 62 | Galileo FOC FM 33, 34 | MEO | ESA | Planned |
2025[40] | Ariane 64 | Intelsat-41, 44 | GTO | Intelsat | Planned |
Q2 2026[31] | Ariane 64[41] | MTG-I2[42] | GTO | EUMETSAT | Planned |
H1 2026[43] | Ariane 64 | Intelsat 45 | GTO | Intelsat | Planned |
October 2026[44][45] | Ariane 6 | Earth Return Orbiter | Areocentric | ESA | Planned |
Q4 2026 | Ariane 64 | Multi-Launch Service (MLS) #1 rideshare mission | GTO | TBA | Planned |
2026[47] | Ariane 62[48] | PLATO | Sun–Earth L2 | ESA | Planned |
Q4 2027 | Ariane 64 | MLS #2 rideshare mission | GTO | TBA | Planned |
2027[49][50] | Ariane 64 | Heracles EL3 | TLI | ESA | Planned |
Q4 2028 | Ariane 64 | MLS #3 rideshare mission | GTO | TBA | Planned |
Q3 2029 | Ariane 64 | MLS #4 rideshare mission | GTO | TBA | Planned |
2029[51] | Ariane 62 | ARIEL, Comet Interceptor | Sun–Earth L2 | ESA | Planned |
2035[52] | Ariane 64[53] | Athena | Sun–Earth L2, Halo orbit |
ESA | Planned |
TBD[54] | Ariane 64 | 18 launches of Project Kuiper (35–40 satellites)[55] | LEO | Kuiper Systems | Planned |
TBD[56] | Ariane 64 | ALINA | TLI | Planetary Transportation Systems | Planned |
References
- Wade, Mark. "Ariane". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008.
- "Press kits Archive - Arianespace". Arianespace. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- Forrester, March 17, 2020, "The next scheduled commercial launches include a Galaxy 30 satellite (for Intelsat) and BSAT-4b (for Japanese satellite operator BSAT) which were scheduled for launch together in June"
- Arianespace, March 16, 2020, "Face à l'épidémie de Covid-19 et pour mettre pleinement en œuvre les mesures décidées par le gouvernement français, les campagnes de lancement en cours au Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) sont suspendues".
- CNES, March 16, 2020, "Au Centre Spatial Guyanais, suspension des campagnes de lancement, mise et maintien en sécurité des moyens opérationnels de la base, des lanceurs et des satellites en attente de lancement".
- CNES, March 23, 2020, "All launch preparations have been suspended due to the potential uncertainty and danger of the health situation at a time when great care needs to be taken to prevent the spread of the epidemic in French Guiana".
- CNES, April 28, 2020, "Operations to ready for Vega flight VV16 and Ariane 5 flight VA253 have resumed. Teams stationed permanently in French Guiana have been working to restore the base to its operational configuration since 21 April, applying the necessary distancing and transmission reduction measures."
- Arianespace, April 29, 2020, "Following the measures presented by the French government on 28 April 2020 as part of the gradual resumption of activity planned from 11 May 2020, and the announcement of a restart of operational activities at the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace confirms its following launch objectives: [...] Flight VA253 – A dual-payload Ariane 5 mission for two customers, Intelsat and B-SAT, at the end of July 2020".
- Henry 2020, "The reopening of the Guiana Space Centre, which suspended operations in mid-March as part of France's effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to allow Arianespace to resume satellite launches from there by mid-June."
- CNES, May 11, 2020, "Priority projects and operations that will be resuming on site at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) are: the Vega VV16 and Ariane VA253 launch campaigns and the arrival of teams who will be observing a strict 14-day quarantine from 11 and 25 May respectively".
- Forrester, May 1, 2020, "These will be launched on a single Ariane 5 rocket currently scheduled for the end of July".
- Kanayama 2020, "VA253 is set to launch at the end of July".
- Forrester, May 1, 2020, "The next commercial geostationary launch is for Galaxy 30 (3325 kg) for Intelsat on flight VA253 which has two important co-passengers. The first is a slightly larger satellite for Japan's BSat4B (3520 kg). But of perhaps extra importance is the second "space tug" for Northrop Grumman and its rescue craft MEV-2".
- Kanayama 2020, "The next mission for Arianespace after VV16 is VA253 with the Ariane 5 rocket. It will carry the Galaxy-30, MEV-2, and the BSat-4B satellites".
- Krebs, Galaxy 30 2020, "Intelsat awarded in January 2018 a contract to build the Galaxy 30 Ku- and Ka-band communications satellite to Orbital ATK, now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS). This satellite will be based on the flight-proven GEOStar-2 platform".
- Northrop Grumman, Galaxy 30, 2020, "The satellite will be designed, built and tested at Northrop Grumman's state-of-the-art satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia, and will primarily serve video markets in North America".
- Arianespace, January 9, 2018, "The first launch will carry the Galaxy 30 satellite together with the Orbital ATK Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV-2) as a stacked pair".
- Krebs, MEV 1, 2 2020, "A second MEV was ordered for Intelsat in January 2018. MEV-2 is expected to be in service by mid-2020 on a five-year mission [...] MEV-2 will share the upper berth of an Ariane-5ECA+ rocket with Galaxy 30 [...]. The initial mission of MEV-2 is to extend the life of Intelsat 10-02".
- FCC, MEV-2, 2020 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Krebs, BSat 4a, 4b 2020, "BSAT-4a will have 24 Ku-band transponders and will expand the availability of advanced television services such as high definition and 4K/8K ultra-high definition television. BSAT-4a is based on the highly reliable SSL-1300 platform"
- "Arianespace to launch two telecom satellites into geostationary orbit". arianespace.com. 20 July 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- "VA254 launch kit" (PDF). arianespace.com. Arianespace. November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
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- Foust, Jeff (10 September 2019). "Airbus and Telespazio to sell excess capacity on Syracuse 4 satellites". SpaceNews. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- "Everyday Astronaut Syracuse 4B & Heinrich Hertz (H2Sat) Ariane 5 ECA+". EverydayAstronaut. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- Cabirol, Michel (11 October 2023). "Ariane 6 : vers un premier vol en avril-mai 2024?" [Ariane 6: towards a first flight in April-May 2024?]. La Trubune (in French). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- "ESA selects payloads for Ariane 6 first flight". ESA. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- Lagneau, Laurent (4 March 2022). "Faute de lanceur Soyouz, la mise sur orbite du satellite militaire français CSO-3 sera retardée d'un an" [In the absence of a Soyuz launcher, the orbital insertion of the French military satellite CSO-3 will be delayed by a year]. Opex360 (in French). Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- "SENER designs the mechanisms for the assembly of Electra, the first European commercial satellite with electric propulsion". SENER (Press release). 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- Berger, Eric (18 April 2023). "Europe's Ariane 6 rocket is turning into a space policy disaster". Ars Technica. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- Rainbow, Jason (19 November 2021). "The Ariane 6 countdown: Q&A with ArianeGroup civil program manager Franck Huiban". SpaceNews. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
The second launch will be for Galileo, which is not commercial.
- "Meteosat series". EUMETSAT. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- Krebs, Gunter (22 August 2020). "MTG-S 1, 2 (Meteosat 13, 16 / Sentinel 4A, 4B)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- "Arianespace to launch eight new Galileo satellites". Arianespace (Press release). 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- Foust, Jeff (21 January 2021). "Airbus, Thales win second-generation Galileo satellite contracts". SpaceNews. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- Posaner, Joshua (20 October 2022). "Ariane boss insists Europe's new rocket can compete with Musk's SpaceX". Politico Europe. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
"Ariane 6 is the guarantee of autonomous access to space for Europe," Roussel told POLITICO, while confirming tentative plans to carry out a maiden launch of the next-generation rocket by the close of next year, though the first full-scale commercial launch will only happen in 2024.
- "Arianespace to launch Australian satellite Optus-11 with Ariane 6". Arianespace (Press release). 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- "Space Compass and Skyloom Sign a Term Sheet to Bring Optical Data Relay Services to the Earth Observation Market". Business Wire (Press release). 6 September 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- "Skyloom signs contract with Arianespace for first launch". Arianespace. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- Arianespace [@Arianespace] (10 September 2021). "We are proud to launch Skyloom's 1st satellite Uhura-1 aboard an Ariane 6 in 2023. This laser-coms relay node will be a game changer for the industry. Congratulations to CEO Marcos Franceschini on this huge milestone" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Arianespace Ariane 6 to launch Intelsat satellites". Arianespace (Press release). 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- "EUMETSAT to exploit ESA-developed launchers and flight operations software". EUMETSAT. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- Krebs, Gunter (10 September 2022). "MTG-I 1, 2, 3, 4 (Meteosat 12, 14, 15, 17)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- Foust, Jeff (12 September 2023). "Arianespace to launch Intelsat small GEO satellite". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- Cowart, Justin (13 August 2019). "NASA, ESA Officials Outline Latest Mars Sample Return Plans". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
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- "Athena X-ray observatory | Athena mission". Athena Community Office. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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