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Aviation History
1980
1980 - 0085.PDF
FUGHT International, 12 January 1980 79 FIRST flight of Europe's Ariane Flight, January 5) generated a tremendous amount of information, which is now being examined by French space agency (CNES) and the many contractors involved. The suc cessful birth of Ariane is largely due to France, which provides about two thirds of the cost of the project. But industry throughout Europe has also had a large hand in Ariane's creation. Britain, for example, though it con tributed only about 2-5 per cent to Ariane, supplied several important parts. Marconi Space and Defence Systems provided the guidance pro grams for Ariane's computer, while British Aerospace Dynamics built the release-clamps, autopilot, several pro- pellant valves and an engine-support strut. Ferranti produced the inertial navigation platforms and several other companies made Ariane com ponents, including Avica and Simon. European engineers expect to com plete preliminary examination of first flight data by late January, in time for any necessary modifications before the second test flight, currently scheduled for May. Meanwhile, Europe has already be gun the steps necessary to ensure Ariane's success during the 1980s (Flight, December 8). CNES, respon sible for managing Ariane on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), has revealed more details of its plans for a second launch pad in Kourou. Most important among these would be the adoption of an erect and trans- Ariane first flight postscript By DAVID VELUPILLAI in Kourou, French Guiana Left First flight Ariane with engines running during the unsuccessful launch attempt on December 15. The silver covering around the second stage keeps the propellants cool before launch. Middle Ariane rises above the French Guiana jungle at the start of a successful first flight on Christmas Eve. Right Ariane's first stage engines create a white ribbon across the sky port to the launch pad concept. Ariane would be assembled and checked one or two kilometres away from the pad. Once these prepara tions were complete Ariane would be towed to the launch pad on a trolley running on rails—a similar version of the transporter arrangement Nasa uses at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, for the Space Shuttle. The advantage of this concept is that the launch pad is not tied up for long periods. CNES was unable to use the idea for the present pad, because it is a modified version of that built for the unsuccessful Europa II. The second launch pad would be sited about 600m south of the present pad —a distance claimed sufficient to avoid serious damage, even if a rocket were to blow up on the other pad. CNES estimates that the present pad is good for a peak of six launches a year, but not for a sustained period. Target launch rate for two pads is eight a year, but this could almost certainly be increased. Cost of the second pad, including a new assembly building and launcher transport, is put at $950-$l,200 million. CNES has also released pre'iminary details for first stage recovery and reuse from Ariane 3 onward. If re covery does prove practicable it would mean a saving of about 15 per cent of the cost of a launch. Parachutes would be used to brake the fall of the spent first stage, which would then be towed the 400km to Cayenne at a speed of about lOkm/hr. Payload penalty incurred by the parachutes is estimated at 50kg, but this has been allowed for with Ariane 3. CNES envisages that each Aero spatiale-built first stage would make a total of three flights. The first stage tanks are made of stainless steel so sea-water corrosion is not a big hurdle. Engineers foresee replace ment of the engine nozzles, because these would distort when their hot surface touched the sea. But most other parts should be good for another launch after minor refurbish ment. The stage would be returned to Europe for this work. CNES emphasises that it is working to make future versions of Ariane, perhaps from Ariane 4 onward, directly competitive with Nasa's re usable Shuttle. (Flight, December 8, incorrectly gives the impression that Ariane will always be at a slight dis advantage compared with Shuttle). Current price of an Ariane launch depends on whether or not the user is an ESA member. This two-tier pricing policy, is intended to make Ariane competitive, but penalises ESA mem bers. At 1978 prices a foreign user would pay about £15-5 million for a launch, compared with roughly £19-5 million for an ESA member. But foreign users do help to pay develop ment and running costs by enlarging the size of the programme. ESA is now concentrating on the three remaining test flights. It needs to have at least two successes out of four before Ariane enters service.
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