Ariane-5 rocket to be relaunched in September<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The European aerospace company Arianespace will
\nlaunch in September the qualification flight of the second
\nAriane-5, the latest generation of rocket which exploded seconds
\nafter its maiden launch last June.<\/p>\n
If the launch is successful, a third launch would take place
\nfour or five months after the second one, Arianespace's
\npresident, Charles Bigot, told The Jakarta Post during his visit
\nhere last week.<\/p>\n
"Ariane will then take over the Ariane-5 project for
\ncommercial and operational affairs in early 1998," he said.<\/p>\n
The Ariane-5 rocket, the first of a new generation of
\nEuropean-made spacecraft launchers, exploded in early June 1996
\nafter lift-off from its launchpad at Kourou, French Guiana.<\/p>\n
About 40 seconds after take-off, the unmanned rocket flipped
\nover before the explosion. The Ariane-5 was carrying four
\nscientific satellites.<\/p>\n
The Ariane-5 project, jointly developed with the European
\nSpace Agency (ESA) since 1988, costs US$8 billion. The new
\ngeneration rocket is expected to maintain Europe's edge in
\nlaunching heavy satellites.<\/p>\n
According to ESA, the explosion of the first Ariane-5 rocket
\nwas caused by a failure of computer software that determines the
\nrocket's position during take-off.<\/p>\n
Modifying the revamped software program could cost between 2
\npercent and 4 percent of the agency's total Ariane-5 program
\nbudget.<\/p>\n
If the first launch had been successful, Ariane-5, designed to
\ncarry a payload of up to 6.8 tons into geostationary orbit, was
\nscheduled this year to launch several satellites, including
\nIndostar-1 for PT Malicak, Indonesia, in July or August.<\/p>\n
Arianespace still relies on Ariane-4, which has a payload
\ncapacity of 4.5 tons, a far less powerful rocket than Ariane-5.<\/p>\n
Arianespace will also launch by early 1999 the Telkom-1
\nsatellite for state-owned PT Telkom. Telkom-1 will be the third
\nIndonesian satellite launched by Arianespace, following the
\nPalapa C2 satellite in May last year and Indostar.<\/p>\n
Bigot said there had been no losses due to last year's
\nunexpected explosion.<\/p>\n
"This is part of the qualification phases, any risks have been
\nprojected," he said.<\/p>\n
The Ariane-5 program is the first satellite project to gain a
\nfree relaunch in case of failure, which relieves satellite
\noperators of the need to purchase costly launch insurance.<\/p>\n
Previously, commercial satellite launchers had not guaranteed
\nsatellite launches. When a rocket fails, the entire financial
\nburden is on the customers, even if the failure comes from the
\nlauncher. (icn)<\/p>",
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