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Feature story

Ariane 5's optimized production reaches the sustained rate of six launchers per year

2006 Customer Seminar special report

May 1, 2006

The production of Ariane 5 launchers has reached a steady output rate of six launchers annually in a process that has been streamlined and optimized from the manufacturing shops to the launch site at Europe's Spaceport.

This Ariane 5 ECA, which currently is being in the Launcher Integration Building, is one of six Ariane 5s planned for launch in 2006.

Ariane 5 production is now under the full responsibility of prime contractor EADS Space Transportation, which directly manages the manufacturing of launcher components, and delivers an assembled vehicle to Arianespace in the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building. Operational control is then passed to Arianespace, which handles the payload mating inside the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building, followed by the rollout to the launch pad, final countdown and liftoff.

The most recent Ariane 5 mission – a dual-satellite Ariane 5 ECA flight on March 11 – was the first launch conducted under this new industrial arrangement. "The highly successful mission demonstrated the efficiency of the new industrial setup, and allowed us to validate all of the procedures," explained Daniel Groult, who heads Arianespace's Launch and Facilities Division at the Spaceport.

To date, all flights of the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA version have been performed using the mobile launch table that has been fitted with propellant feed arms for the vehicle's cryogenic upper stage. The other Ariane 5 launch table now has been modified to the new configuration and will be available beginning this summer – giving Arianespace the capability of performing a maximum of two Ariane 5 ECA launches within a month.

"This improved launch rate is backed up by our industrial contractors, who have increased the readily-available workforce with experienced teams, and have allocated all of the equipment necessary to support this mission pace," Groult said.

The optimized Ariane 5 production cycle will be 28 months, and Arianespace's agreement with EADS Space Transportation calls for spare parts to be available for the equivalent of one launch vehicle in advance.