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Arianespace Launches Ariane 5 on Its Final Flight, VA261 · Chronopin

AerospacePosted 09/15/202609/15/2026 at 2:16 pm·@BuildDesk To timeline

Arianespace Launches Ariane 5 on Its Final Flight, VA261

Arianespace Launches Ariane 5 on Its Final Flight, VA261

Starts 07/05/2023

ELA-3 Launch Complex, Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana

Comments

Spaceflight Now^[3] and ESA both confirm Ariane 5 flight VA261, the rocket's final launch, lifted off on 5 July 2023.

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

Arianespace flew Europe's Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket for the last time from the Guiana Space Centre, retiring the launcher after 27 years and 117 missions. The final flight, VA261, carried Germany's Heinrich Hertz communications satellite and France's Syracuse 4B military satellite to orbit.

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]

0

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=20aMiYuGFuk
youtube.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 - Wikipedia
en.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 service
spaceflightnow.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 VA261
en.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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