- Start
- Jul 5, 202395% CONFIDENCEfrom en.wikipedia.org
- End
- Jul 5, 202395% CONFIDENCEfrom en.wikipedia.org
Arianespace Launches Ariane 5 on Its Final Flight, VA261
- Ariane 5 flight VA261, the 117th and last Ariane 5 launch, lifted off from ELA-3 at the Guiana Space Centre on 5 July 2023 at 22:00 UTC and succeeded[3][4]
- It carried Germany's Heinrich Hertz communications satellite and France's Syracuse-4B military satellite[3][4]
- A launch planned for 15 June slipped over a booster separation problem (faulty pyrotechnical transmission lines) and again a day for weather[3][4]
- Ariane 5 debuted in June 1996 with a failure, reached a 96% success rate, and carried missions including JWST, Rosetta, BepiColombo and JUICE[3]
- Afterwards there were concerns about European launcher availability, with Vega C grounded and Ariane 6's first flight delayed[4]
Notable features
- Ariane 5 was an expendable heavy-lift launcher designed by CNES with European partners, pairing a cryogenic main stage powered by a Vulcain engine with two solid rocket boosters; VA261 flew the ECA+ version, after the G, G+, GS and ES versions had all been retired[2][3][4]
- The ECA could carry up to 10 tons to geostationary transfer orbit (later batches up to 11,115 kg) and usually launched two satellites at once on the SYLDA dual-launch carrier, or up to three with SPELTRA[2][3]
- The 5.4 m-wide H173 main stage held about 175 t of liquid hydrogen and oxygen for a Vulcain 2 engine giving 1,390 kN of vacuum thrust; the ESC-A upper stage burned 14,900 kg of propellant in an HM-7B engine inherited from Ariane 4[2]
- Each of the two EAP P241 solid boosters was 31.6 m tall and 3.06 m wide, gave up to 7,080 kN of thrust and burned for 140 seconds[2]
- The complete rocket stood 46-52 m tall and 5.4 m in diameter, with a liftoff mass of about 777,000 kg[2]
References 485% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=20aMiYuGFukyoutube.com· Posted Sep 15, 2026· Starts Jul 5, 2023· 33% of score
Spaceflight Now[3] and ESA both confirm Ariane 5 flight VA261, the rocket's final launch, lifted off on 5 July 2023.
- [2]80%Ariane 5 - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 22, 2026· 34% of score
Wikipedia's[4] Ariane 5 article gives the ECA's Vulcain 2 main stage (1,390 kN vacuum, 175 t propellant), ESC-A upper stage with HM-7B, EAP P241 boosters (31.6 m, 7,080 kN, 140 s), GTO capacity up to 11,115 kg and 46-52 m height.
- [3]85%Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket to retire after 27 years servicespaceflightnow.com· Added Sep 15, 2026· 33% of score
Spaceflight Now covers the retirement of Ariane 5 after 27 years and 117 missions.
- [4]95%Ariane flight VA261en.wikipedia.org· Published Jul 5, 2023· Starts Jul 5, 2023 ✓· Ends Jul 5, 2023 ✓· 0% of score
Wikipedia's[2] flight record confirms VA261 launched on 5 July 2023 as Ariane 5's final flight.
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