 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 by Staff Writers Paris (AFP) Nov 17, 2020
The failure of a European rocket just minutes after lift-off was caused by a production mistake that led to a wiring mix-up and altered the trajectory, its operator said on Tuesday. The Vega, the lightest of Arianespace's three payload rockets, malfunctioned about eight minutes after launch from the space centre at Kourou, in French Guiana in South America, on Monday. It broke up in the atmosphere before falling into the Atlantic Ocean, destroying the two satellites it was carrying, including one that would have placed Spain's first into orbit. Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel said the wire mix-up was made while the launcher was being built by Avio in Italy. "It's not a design problem," he told a press conference, as was the case with a previous Vega failure in July 2019. "Everything was going as planned during the first part of the flight, but we lost control after the ignition of the fourth rocket stage," said Roland Lagier, Arianespace's technical director. Arianespace and the European Space Agency plan to set up an independent commission to investigate the cause of the failure and determine why any mistakes were not discovered sooner. "We'll fix it, and we'll be back even stronger," Israel said, adding that future launch schedules would be maintained. He nonetheless apologised for the loss of the two satellites: Spain had planned to put up its first Earth observation satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA). The mission would also have placed into orbit Taranis, a French satellite designed to observe extremely bright electrical phenomena in the planet's upper atmosphere. juc/rh/zl/js/sjw/jxb
ESA dual EO satellite launch fails minutes after takeoff Kourou (AFP) Nov 17, 2020 A European space rocket failed minutes after taking off with the loss of both satellites it was carrying, its operator said Tuesday. The Vega light launcher, which would have placed Spain's first satellite into orbit, malfunctioned roughly eight minutes after launching from a space centre in Kourou, French Guiana. Having taken off at around 11 pm local time (0200 GMT) the launcher slowed before it encountered an unidentified "anomaly," said Arianespace, the company overseeing the launch. "Th ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
