Oct 21 1998
From The Space Library
After experiencing two disastrous launch failures in 1996 and 1997, the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched its French-made Ariane 5 rocket and recoverable space capsule from Kourou, French Guiana. The 1.6 million-pound (800-ton, 726,000-kilogram, or 726-tonne) rocket carried a 2.6-tonne (2.9-ton, 5,700-pound, or 2,600-kilogram) mock-up of a telecommunications satellite and a 2.8-tonne (3.1-ton, 6,200-pound, or 2,800-kilogram) recoverable capsule. With the successful recovery of the capsule from the Pacific Ocean, France became the fourth country to develop such technology, following the United States, Russia, and China. French scientists had designed the Ariane 5 rocket to carry payloads of 5.9-6.8 tonnes (6.5-7.5 tons, 13,000-15,000 pounds, or 5,900-6,800 kilograms) into geostationary orbit, using twice the power of the Ariane 4; to provide launches for low-altitude orbits and interplanetary space probes; and to lift the cargo vehicle that would be the ESA's contribution to the ISS.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
