One hundredth Ariane 5 rocket launched

kourou - Arianespace has launched a European Ariane 5 rocket for the hundredth time. The rocket departed around midnight (Dutch time) from Kourou in French Guiana and brings two satellites for telecom in orbit around the earth.

The first Ariane 5 was launched in 1996. That launch ended in a disaster. The rocket hit the course shortly after the start and exploded. There were still a failure among the hundred launches. In 2002, a rocket had to be detonated. Since then, the Ariane 5 has been reliable, even though a launch was canceled at the last moment in September 2017.

At the anniversary launch two satellites were on board for commercial purposes. The European Space Agency (ESA) is now working on the successor of the Ariane 5, the Ariane 6. The aerospace company Airbus Defense and Space Netherlands from Leiden is involved. The first test must take place in 2020.