Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall [video] told the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee last week (Aug. 5) that the Ariane 5 booster (Europe's premier rocket booster) is available to support the future of U.S. space exploration, including cargo resupply flights for the International Space Station, along with missions to the Moon and Mars.
"Originally human-rated, the Ariane 5 has adapted to its present day role as the leading large capacity launch vehicle for satellite operators and international partners the world over," the Obama created commission was told by Le Gall. "The Ariane 5 can reach lunar orbit, the lunar surface, and Mars - objectives that are compatible with NASA's exploration missions."
Le Gall pointed to the capacity of the Ariane 5 booster as a mature, proven, capable heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of 20 metric tons to low Earth orbit, seven metric tons to lunar transfer orbit, and five metric tons to Mars. He noted a flight rate of seven Ariane 5 missions per year with 46-new boosters now in various stages of production. More from Arianespace.
However, the Araine 5 Flight 501, the inaugural launch of Europe's Ariane 5 rocket, ended in an explosion shortly after lift-off on 4 June 1996 - more than a decade ago. Nonetheless, over 13 years later, the Ariane 5 is ready for yet another launch on August 21st.
The Arianespace presentation should be a wake-up call to the US Government generally and NASA and the commercial space launch firms specifically that American rocket technology and space policy can not be allowed to languish as the Europeans, Russians, Chinese and Indians fully engage the launch market. American commercial space launch firms should be encouraged to take cargo and astronauts to orbit by private carrier rockets such as the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Orbital Sciences Corporation's Taurus II.
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