Ariane 5 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

NASA says JWST won’t be ready for launch in March 2021

June 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will not happen in March 2021 — the mission’s previously-scheduled launch date — after the coronavirus pandemic forced a more than 50 percent reduction in staff levels at the observatory’s assembly and test facility.

Arianespace to resume launch preparations in French Guiana

May 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

Targeting a pair of satellite launches in June and July, ground teams will resume work at the Guiana Space Center in South America next week after a nearly two-month pause in Arianespace’s launch campaigns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Launches from French Guiana suspended due to coronavirus

March 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

Launch campaigns at the European-run spaceport in French Guiana — a home base for Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets — have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Arianespace said Monday.

Ariane 5 deploys communications and environmental monitoring satellites

February 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Japanese-owned communications satellite built in Colorado and a South Korean environmental monitoring observatory shared an Ariane 5 rocket ride into orbit Tuesday from the South American jungle.

Live coverage: Japanese and South Korean satellites launch on Ariane 5 rocket

February 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

A European-built Ariane 5 rocket launched Tuesday with a U.S.-made communications satellite for Tokyo-based Sky Perfect JSAT and a South Korean environmental observatory. The heavy-lift Ariane 5 launcher took off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT; 7:18 p.m. French Guiana time).

Government watchdog warns of another JWST launch delay

January 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

The James Webb Space Telescope is at risk of another launch delay beyond the mission’s current target launch date in March 2021, the Government Accountability Office said this week.

Photos: Ariane 5’s fiery climb to space from French Guiana

January 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

A European Ariane 5 rocket fired into a gloomy sky Thursday over French Guiana and streaked into space from the tropical launch base with 2.9 million pounds of thrust from two solid rocket boosters and a hydrogen-fueled Vulcain 2 main engine.

Arianespace opens busy year with successful Ariane 5 launch

January 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

The first of up to 22 launches on Arianespace’s schedule in 2020 successfully delivered a commercial European broadband satellite and an Indian communications payload to orbit Thursday using a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket.

Photos: Ariane 5 rocket rolled out for first launch of 2020

January 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

A nearly 180-foot-tall (54.8-meter) Ariane 5 rocket rolled out of its integration hangar to the ELA-3 launch zone Wednesday at the Guiana Space Center in South America, moving into position for liftoff Thursday with two geostationary communications satellites.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches telecom satellites for Eutelsat, ISRO

January 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

Arianespace’s first launch of 2020 lifted off at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT; 6:05 p.m. French Guiana time) Thursday from the Guiana Space Center on the northeastern shore of South America. An Ariane 5 rocket launched the Eutelsat Konnect and GSAT 30 communications satellite for Eutelsat and the Indian Space Research Organization.