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ArianeSpace Flight 157
Flight 157

December 12: Update from Kourou
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The independent inquiry board that will determine the causes of Flight
157's launch failure will begin its work on Monday, December 16.

Arianespace Chief Executive Officer Jean-Yves Le Gall said the board 
has the task of determining the source of in-flight problems on the 
first mission of the "10-ton" Ariane 5, and to assess what effect this 
failure will have on flights of the basic Ariane 5 launcher version.

Speaking to journalists at the Spaceport this morning, Le Gall said
Arianespace's next mission - an Ariane 4 launch with the New Skies
Satellites' NSS-6 telecommunications spacecraft - remains on schedule 
for a December 17 liftoff.

In parallel, Arianespace is continuing with preparations for the 
upcoming Ariane 5 mission, which will use a basic Ariane 5 launcher to 
place Europe's Rosetta scientific spacecraft on a deep-space 
trajectory to rendezvous with a comet. This launch has been set for 
January 12, and Le Gall said activity is continuing on a schedule that 
would support this target date, pending a go-ahead from the Flight 157 
inquiry board.

"The Flight 157 failure has not affected Arianespace's determination 
to move ahead and to overcome our difficulties," Le Gall told the 
journalists. "We will not change our overall strategy, and we are 
confident about the future."

Arianespace is now assessing its planned phase-in schedule for the 
"10-ton" Ariane 5 launcher version, and will continue as rapidly as 
possible with the next flights of the basic Ariane 5, he said.

According to Le Gall, Flight 157 encountered problems beginning at
approximately 96 sec. into the mission. The anomalies were in the 
Ariane 5's core stage propulsion system, which is powered by the 
Vulcain 2 cryogenic main engine. This was followed by flight control 
difficulties that led to the launcher's controlled destruction over 
the Atlantic Ocean.

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