Why Ariane?

As the European launch vehicle celebrates its 30th birthday, it is perhaps the moment to remember that Ariane very nearly never existed!

 

14:14 local Guiana time on 24 December 1979: the first Ariane blasts off after having overcome widespread disbelief. Credit: ESA/CNES

Today, Ariane is hailed as one of Europe’s resounding successes. There is no doubt that Arianespace, the company responsible for commercialising satellite launches using this rocket, is dominating the market. And yet, Ariane came into being almost as a backwards step...

A substitution launcher
At the beginning of the 1970’s, the European space industry was going through a crisis. Its Europa launch vehicle programme, based on a first stage from a British missile, was experiencing one failure after another. France, from its position as the third space power (the result of its Diamant rocket which placed the Asterix satellite in orbit in 1965), therefore suggested an L3S or third generation launch vehicle. But negotiations with Germany, who was working on the Spacelab module, intended to be taken up into space by the future American space shuttle, and the United Kingdom proved extremely tricky. To reach an agreement, France committed itself to providing 60% of the necessary funds and to covering any cost overruns. In return, supervision of the contract was to become the responsibility of the CNES, the French Space Agency, and French national industries were logically to be awarded a large part of the contracts. This agreement was ratified in Brussels in 1973 by the European partner countries. The French minister for Industrial and Scientific Development, Jean Charbonnel, then suggested changing the technical denomination of L3S to the more poetic Ariane (French for Ariadne), in reference to the thread belonging to Ariadne who, in Greek mythology, enabled Theseus to get out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth just as the future rocket was to help the European launcher programme out of its stalemate...

The Europa launch vehicle. The failure of this programme was to push France to suggest a “substitution launcher” which would become Ariane. Credit: ESA

Sovereignty to the rescue
Contrary to what you might think, the Ariane project was not weighed down by support! True, the creation in 1975 of the ESA (European Space Agency) federated Europe’s space willingness a little more, but differences remained and political support faltered on more than one occasion. The Americans, furthermore, did not understand Europe’s obstinacy in developing a launch technology that they believed doomed in the short term. It should not be forgotten that at this time NASA was preparing its space shuttle and was promising a spectacular drop in the price per kilo sent into orbit. There was no doubt that this new “space truck” would soon be performing the majority of the commercial satellite positioning operations, thus putting an end to the traditional rockets.

Ariane, as it was presented in 1973 as a third-generation substitution launcher. In the end, the 47.4 metre-high rocket that blasted off on 24 December 1979 was composed of 3 stages. It could place 1.8 tonnes in geostationary transfer orbit. Credit: ESA

Politicians, including their French counterparts, had even more doubts and some observers predicted an enormous technological and financial fiasco. However, America, itself, was to provide the best reason for continuing with Ariane: sovereignty. Blocked by the failure of the Europa launcher, Europe had to turn to the United States to place an ambitious telecommunications satellite, dubbed Symphonie, in orbit. This proposition was accepted on the other side of the Atlantic, but not without a condition that had serious consequences: any commercial use was prohibited! Europe then realised that a launch vehicle is also a vector of sovereignty as, without any rockets, the European States were at the mercy of the goodwill of countries with access to space.

Ariane taken seriously
In the video interviews published on the space agency’s website, Yves Sillard, former Director General of the CNES, reiterates how difficult it was for the Ariane programme to be taken seriously. Many believed that it was just a question of making a “deterrent launcher” with a view to forcing the Americans to relax their conditions. Yves Sillard also highlights the fact that, every year, the French budget ministry wanted to stop Ariane... But in 1979, he received strong criticism from the French Government as the security measures at the Guiana Space Centre were deemed insufficient and French politicians were afraid of sabotage! Yves Sillard was actually very pleased to receive such reprimands as, by devoting more money to protect it from any external threats, the Government proved that it was fully behind Ariane at last. After all, you do not protect things that you do not really value...

The team behind the first Ariane launch campaign can be seen posing in front of the rocket on the Guiana Space Centre launch pad. Credit: CNES/ESA

On 15 December 1979, after 7 years of hard work, Ariane’s first attempt at blasting off failed. A sensor detected the wrong thrust and the electronics immediately cut out the 4 first stage engines.  The rocket however was safe. In actual fact, it was the sensor which was faulty. The press did not miss out on the chance of mocking this unsuccessful attempt. On 24 December, Ariane finally blasted off at 14:14 local Guiana time and became a real Christmas present for Europe. True, it did not place any satellites in orbit, but the onboard, weighted “technological capsule” took measurements and proved that the launch vehicle had operated as planned.

Here, Albert Vienne (left), Director of the Guiana Space Centre, meets Ariane Girouard, born in Kourou just after the launch on 24 December 1979. Credit: ESA

The road was to be a long one, however, as the second flight of Ariane 1 ended in failure and opponents to the programme found a second wind. But, Ariane patiently built up its reliability, evolving through to the current Ariane 5 and, against all expectations, has become the leading player in the commercial launch market that it is today.

Published on 24 December 2009