Ariane Rocket Detonates!
Date: Thursday, December 12 @ 14:06:48 GMT
Topic: detonate.net!
Reuters
Thursday, December 12, 2002; Page A42
KOUROU, French Guiana, Dec. 11 -- The delayed launch of the first upgraded European Ariane 5 rocket ended in disaster today when it exploded soon after liftoff from French Guiana, sending two satellites plunging into the Atlantic Ocean.
The explosion was the fourth failure of an Ariane 5 rocket in its 14-mission history. The failure could halt Ariane 5 flights indefinitely... O_o
More Inside!
Arianespace's chief executive, Jean-Yves Le Gall, said the rocket stopped functioning three minutes after launch.
"At this stage it is too early to give precise reasons for this failure," he said.
The rocket was carrying a Hot Bird 7 satellite owned by the Paris-based operator Eutelsat. It had an estimated value of $250 million. OUCH!!
The second satellite, Stentor, was an experimental project worth $385 million. It was developed by the French space agency CNES, France Telecom and the French defense procurement agency.
Europe suffered another space disaster last month when a Russian Proton rocket failed to put a European communications satellite into its proper orbit.
The French-made Astra 1K, the world's biggest communications satellite, was boosted out of its incorrect orbit and plunged into the southern Pacific Ocean this week.
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