[LA Tribune France] [Google auto-translated]. Ariane 5's on-board computer was poorly programmed. The launcher flew over Kourou, which has never happened so far.This is a huge miss ArianeGroup, who was responsible for the first time launcher until takeoff (H0). The satellites SES-14 (SES) and Al Yah 3 (Yahsat, the operator of the United Arab Emirates) were dropped on the night of Thursday to Friday by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher on a bad geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) due to an inclination error of 20 degrees from the start. Above all, the launcher flew over Kourou. This has never happened before.
This explains why Arianespace lost track of the launcher after nine minutes: the telemetry antennas were not looking for the launcher where it was but where it should be. And for good reason. An independent commission of inquiry, set up last Friday by Arianespace in coordination with the European Space Agency (ESA) must determine the reasons for this anomaly.
| Hacked? |
Involved, an azimuth error, which is at the level of the flight program. Clearly, the programming of the on-board computer under the responsibility of ArianeGroup has been faulty. An error worthy of the worst Russian launchers.
The first investigations show that this situation results from a deviation of the trajectory, according to an Arianespace press release.
Unlike previous launches, there was no double control by Arianespace due to the desire to reduce duplication between the two companies. Duplicates that finally had reliability and increased the quality of service provided by Arianespace.
The Arianespace reliability record is at stake.
New mistakes could definitely damage the reliability record of the European launchers. Both satellites are expected to finally reach their final orbit with a reduced operational life. Some experts estimate this reduction of one third, or even half.
The launcher took off as scheduled on January 25, 2018 at 19:20 (local time in Kourou, French Guiana). Nine minutes and 26 seconds after H0, ground telemetry stations from the second station in Natal, Brazil, lost contact with the Ariane 5 launcher. An anomaly found a few seconds after the ignition of the upper stage. "This lack of telemetry lasted until the end of the mission," said the launch services company.
"At the end of the mission, the launcher separated the two satellites in a stable orbit, said Arianespace, SES and Yahsat have each acquired their satellite SES-14 and Al Yah 3 operate nominally."