Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the Star One C4 communications satellite and Europe’s MSG 4 weather observatory. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Mission Reports
Galileo launch failure blamed on frozen Fregat fuel line
A design flaw in a Russian Fregat upper stage was responsible for the botched orbital injection of two European Galileo navigation satellites in August, causing hydrazine fuel to freeze inside the rocket’s maneuvering system and rendering it unable to point in the right direction during a critical engine burn.
Mission Reports