An A/CC Special Topic:

Disaster strikes the Ariane program   [ Mission halted ]

During the night of 11-12 Dec., a new advanced version of the Ariane-5 rocket had to be blown up on its first flight after control was lost at high altitude.

The Rosetta comet mission as originally conceived and prepared up through Dec. 2002 required launching during a very constrained time window during the second half of Jan. 2003. Launch was to be on an Ariane-5 "standard" version that is better proven, though hardly trouble-free. Indeed, the failure appears to have involved an improved first-stage main engine not used on the planned Rosetta launcher, but a review began on the 16th to "Ensure that the Flight 157 anomaly will not affect upcoming launches of the baseline version of Ariane 5," according to 12 Dec. ESA and Arianespace news releases.

BBC reported on the 12th that, "At a press conference held by rocket operator Arianespace in Kourou, French Guiana, officials . . . were adamant that the next flight of Ariane 5, using a 'classical' non-enhanced version of the booster, would go ahead in January when the Rosetta comet lander would be launched." However, Reuters reported that "Arianespace chief executive Jean-Yves Le Gall . . . was unable to say whether Ariane-5 would be available to launch the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe." New Scientist's 12 Dec. report quotes ESA's Rosetta chief, John Ellwood, as saying "Any decisions with respect to the Rosetta launch will be made with all the facts on the table and ESA has no intention to put this exciting mission under any undue risk."

A BBC article posted overnight 11-12 Dec. explained how critical the timing is for the Rosetta mission. In a 5 Sept. 2002 news release, ESA said that, "If it is to keep its rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen in 2012, Rosetta must lift off on its Ariane-5 launcher no sooner than 03:40 CET on 13 Jan. 2003 and no later than the end of that month."

Another 12 Dec. Reuters report quoted a spokesperson for the British Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) as saying that, "If we miss this launch we will miss the comet. But there is a back-up plan for another comet." However, an Observer article on Guardian Unlimited on 15 Dec. reports that "analysts at Esa's operations headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, are now urgently rifling through star charts and computer programs in a bid to find other targets." And Arianspace announced 16 Dec. that the inquiry board has been charged with reporting on 6 Jan. to "determine the eventual consequences of the anomaly on operations of basic Ariane 5 versions, in particular on preparations for the upcoming launch with the Rosetta deep space probe." A BBC report on the 18th updates the overall situation in also telling of the successful launch of the next-to-last Ariane-4 rocket.

Aviation & Space Week had a 13 Dec. had an overview report on the Ariane-5.

While a decision was awaited on whether to proceed with the January launch, preparations continued on schedule as if it would happen. In a 20 Dec. news release (posted on SpaceRef.com), Arianspace reported about moving Rosetta's Ariane-5 rocket to the final assembly building at the Kourou spaceport. And ESA on 18 Dec. told about fueling the Rosetta spacecraft.

A BBC article of 27 Dec. about Rosetta launch preparations contradicted earlier reports (see above) in quoting an ESA source as saying that "There is no backup target" if the mission can't take off in January.

Arianespace announced on 30 Dec. that "irreversible operations linked to Rosetta's launch have been suspended," which meant there would be a launch postponement of at least a few days past the original 12 Jan. target date. A new launch date was planned to be announced on the 11th. Space.com had a report.

The Ariane-5 launch disaster inquiry board reported on 6 January 2003 the conclusion that the fault was in a new engine not used on the Rosetta launcher, so it had appeared that the Rosetta launch would proceed with only a few days delay. Instead the mission was halted completely, to the point of now dismantling and storing the spacecraft, and beginning the search and planning for a new target, with launch a year or more away.
News headlines (newest first)

• "What's Next for the Rosetta Comet Mission?," 27 Jan. Space.com article
• "Rosetta: Down, But Not Out," 23 Jan. Planetary Soc. article
• "ESA's new challenge with Rosetta," 21 Jan. ESA news release
• "Comet Chaser's Launch Delayed," 17 Jan. Astronomy.com article
• "Rosetta Grounded by Rocket Worries," 16 Jan. Sky & Tel. article
• "Rosetta comet probe to be dismantled," 16 Jan. BBC article
• "Rosetta grounded," 16 Jan. Nature Sci. Update article
• "Where now for Rosetta?," 15 Jan. BBC article
• "Probe faces long wait on Earth," 15 Jan. BBC article reports that the Rosetta launch "will be delayed by up to two-and-a-half years"
• "European Space Agency Delays Rosetta Launch a Year," 15 Jan. Reuters article
• "Rosetta mission postponed," 15 Jan. British Natl. Space Ctr. news release
• "Probe will get new quarry," 14 Jan. BBC article
• "Launch Of European Comet Probe Postponed After Ariane Failure," AFP report on SpaceDaily 14 Jan.
• "Rosetta Will Not Launch In January," 14 Jan. Space.com article
• "Comet landing mission called off," 14 Jan. New Scientist article
• "Rosetta Space Launch Set Back by Further Delay," 14 Jan. Reuters article
• "Rosetta launch postponed," 14 Jan. joint ESA & Arianespace news release
• "Rosetta comet chaser on hold," BBC 14 Jan. article (updated from the original that broke news ahead of official announcements)
• "Stealing a ride on a comet to the sun," 14 Jan. Guardian article
• "Comet chaser seeks launch," 13 Jan. BBC article
• "Comet-chasing mission considers alternatives," 13 Jan. New Scientist article
• "Plasma probe scientists ready for Rosetta blast-off," 13 Jan. Imperial College news release
• "Clock Ticking for Europe's Comet Mission," 11 Jan. [not 30 Jan.] Space.com article
• 10 Jan. ESA announcement of a Rosetta pre-launch media briefing 15 Jan. in Paris, following an announcement on the 14th whether and when there will be a launch
• 10 Jan. PPARC announcement of a Rosetta pre-launch media briefing 13 Jan. in London
• "Arianespace Flight 157: The Inquiry Board Submits its Findings," 7 Jan. Arianespace news release
• "Arianespace to Continue with Launches of the Baseline Ariane 5," 7 Jan. Arianespace news release (on SpaceRef.com)

  “ Although [the Rosetta] mission is to use an Ariane 5 Baseline vehicle, the flight is special because of its unusual trajectory involving a planned delayed ignition of the upper stage. . . "Because of the particular nature of this mission, we are taking a thorough look at the flight," [Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall] said. "We should be ready to make a launch decision by January 14."  ”

• 7 Jan. coverage by BBC, AP on Space.com, and AFP's first and second reports on SpaceDaily.
• 6 Jan. ESA and BBC news items in advance of the Flight 157 Inquiry Board's report.

For more info about the Rosetta mission, see A/CC's Rosetta archive.