• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • Perspectives
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

Not Good Vibrations For Arianespace Fairings (Or ULA’s, For That Matter)

March 24, 2021

Recent launches of the giant Ariane 5 rocket by Arianespace have suffered excess vibration, causing severe delays to the rocket’s launch manifest.

The problem with fairing vibrations has also affected launches made by United Launch Alliance and their Atlas 5 rockets.

The vibrations occur prior to the separation of the rocket’s crucial fairings prior to discharge of the rocket’s cargo. The fairings protect the rocket’s cargo during the first few minutes after launch. The fairings themselves are made by Switzerland-based RUAG Space. Space Intel Report reports that the manufacturer has identified the problems and has begun to implement a cure.

However, what is clear is that the problems are further exacerbating the problems already being faced by Arianespace and its Ariane 5 rocket. The COVID pandemic has not helped and for much of 2020, the key Arianespace launch site in Kourou was on a much-reduced working schedule and the site – in effect – closed from March 2020 to August 2020.

Arianespace cannot be blamed for virus delays, but when compared with the rapid and regular deployment of arch-rival SpaceX and its hugely reliable Falcon 9 rockets then Arianespace doesn’t exactly emerge with glory.

Delays to the design and development of Arianepsace’s follow-on rocket, the ArianeGroup’s Ariane 6 version, have not helped boost confidence leading to clients switching their launches to rival providers. Recent cancellations have included a pair of Galileo European navigation and positioning satellites which have switched from Ariane 6 to a Russian Soyuz-ST launcher.

Last October, the European Space Agency asked its member nations for an additional 230 million euros ($268) in funding for Ariane 6’s on-going development. However, the maiden flight of Ariane-6 has now slipped to Q2/2022 (it should have been launched in 2020).

That maiden flight was supposed to carry a batch of satellite for the UK/India-backed OneWeb constellation. OneWeb is currently Arianespace’s most important customer and there’s a $1+ billion contract between Arianespace and OneWeb to launch the mega-constellation’s satellites.

Filed Under: Analysis / Reports, Fairings, Forrester

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • CORRECTION: Blue Origin launches their 5th human spaceflight mission
  • neXat empowers affordable satellite internet for Indonesian businesses 
  • Satellogic is a finalist for “Company Award 2022” by the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies
  • UPDATE 6: Lunar Transfer Orbit achieved by Rocket Lab for the NASA CAPSTONE smallsat — 1st deep space mission success for the company
  • SES and Vodafone PNG to deliver 4G and 5G services to underserved areas in Papua New Guinea

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!