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| | | | | | | | | Ariane-4 ready for launch | |
Ariane-4 - 100 and counting!
30 October 2000
ESA press release N° 69-2000
Not so much an anniversary, more a consecration...Ariane-4 yesterday took Europe*Star, a communications satellite, to orbit. And took it there with the precision which has become its hallmark. So much so in fact that the event – awesome and yet strangely banal - could well have gone almost unnoticed. That is if the launcher had not been lifting off with a remarkable record onboard – the 100th launch of the Ariane-4 generation. This may not be the end of a career – some twenty more Ariane-4 launches are scheduled between now and 2003 – but it certainly is a high point. And confirmation that cooperation – among ESA’s member states – delivers the goods.
As early as the mid-1970s, the Agency’s member states took on a daunting challenge – to secure independence for Europe in space, which meant giving ESA its own independent access to space. In a market then dominated by American launchers, this was bold verging on reckless. But with Ariane-4, Europe held the key to success. Almost unlimited adaptability, almost faultless reliability, serving an ever accelerating launch rate.
Boosted by such a fine launcher, the European space industry quite literally took off, soon becoming the world’s leader in commercial satellite launches. And today Ariane-4 can proudly boast more than a 50% share of that market, just twelve years on from its first foray into space. A fine example for its successor, Ariane-5!
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