Ariane-5ME (Mid Life Evolution)

[Salo]

04.10.2008 / 00:05    К 2016 году Европейское космическое агентство намерено создать новый вариант носителя Ariane-5

     Европейское космическое агентство намерено к 2016 году разработать новый вариант ракеты Ariane-5 - Mid Life Evolution (ME). Основным отличием нового варианта ракеты будет использование нового двигателя на верхней ступени. Новый носитель сможет выводить на переходную геостационарную орбиту полезный груз до 11200 кг. Это на 16 % больше, чем ныне эксплуатируемая ракета Ariane-5ECA. Решение о финансирование разработки должно быть принято в ноябре нынешнего года.

     - К.И.  

ESA plans for 2016 'mid life evolution' of its Ariane 5

ESA plans for 2016 'mid life evolution' of its Ariane 5
By Rob Coppinger
The next version of the European Space Agency's Ariane 5, the Mid Life Evolution (ME), could be operational in 2016 with a payload to geostationary transfer orbit capability of 11,200kg (24,600lb), 16% more than Arianespace's in-service Ariane 5 ECA.

Developed by ESA with industry and manufactured by EADS Astrium, the ME, the fifth variant of the Ariane 5 since the Generic, will also provide a 21,000kg to low-Earth orbit capability.

While the lower stages of the Ariane 5 are unchanged, the ME upper stage will require a new engine, the Vinci, now undergoing ground tests, that can achieve three restarts in orbit and a longer fairing to encapsulate two large satellites.

To achieve a 2016 in-service date ESA needs its member states' ministerial councils in November and in 2011 to approve the funding of the rocket.

"[We will] take into account the Ariane 5 ECA experience...and treatment of major obsolesence of equipment and hardware," says ESA, for which the operational Ariane 5 would be 14 years old by 2016.

ESA has had its Future Launcher Preparatory Programme looking to develop a replacement for the Ariane with a service entry of around 2020. The Ariane 5 ME, with its start of operations in 2016, could be that future launcher.

[Salo]

Предшественники:
http://www.b14643.de/Spacerockets_1/West_Europe/Ariane-5/Description/Frame.htm


Ariane 5G and Ariane 5ECA

[Александр Ч.]

Собственно, это то о чем я писал Старому на авиабазе
Молодцы европейцы.

[Lev]

Европейское космическое агентство намерено к 2016 году разработать новый вариант ракеты Ariane-5 - Mid Life Evolution (ME). Основным отличием нового варианта ракеты будет использование нового двигателя на верхней ступени. Новый носитель сможет выводить на переходную геостационарную орбиту полезный груз до 11200 кг. Это на 16 % больше, чем ныне эксплуатируемая ракета Ariane-5ECA.

А у А5 вроде обещают 7300 с КВТК.  
ИМХО, 40 тонник нужен.
А ещё лучше - 60 тонник.

[Александр Ч.]

Судя по мелькавшим картинкам, с парой винчи европейцы надеятся вытянуть 50т на LEO.

[Salo]

И шестью ТТУ.

[Salo]

Параметры:



ECB видимо примерно соответствует МЕ.

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Для лунной программы ЕКА были заявлены варианты с грузоподъёмностью 25-27 и 50 тонн на LEO.
Решение о финансировании Vinci должно рассматриваться в ноябре.

[Shestoper]

Молодцы европейцы. Работают в правильном направлении.

[Salo]

http://www.avia.ru/pr/?id=13864

Продолжение программы Vinci (R): важное решение по европейским ракетным двигателям

SAFRAN Group, Пресс-релиз от 10 декабря 2008 года

На собрании Европейского Космического Агентства 25-26 ноября европейские министры, отвечающие за космическую деятельность, подтвердили финансирование подготовительного этапа разработки двигателя многократного включения Vinci (R) и новой криогенной верхней ступени ракеты-носителя Ariane 5. Этап продлится с 2009 до 2011 гг.

 Это решение укрепляет ведущую позицию европейского носителя и его способность удовлетворять все возрастающие требования заказчиков в течение долгого времени. Решение об этапе полномасштабной разработки будет принято в 2011 г. для обеспечения квалификационных летных испытаний в 2016/2017 гг. Главной целью компании Snecma (SAFRAN Group) сейчас является обеспечение к 2011 г запуска двигателя с сопловым насадком. в исполнении, сравнимом с современной летной конфигурацией
 
Двигатель Vinci (R) успешно прошел все испытания и все ключевые этапы разработки: подтверждение технологической реализации расширительного цикла, максимальная тяга двигателя, демонстрация возможности повторного зажигания, испытания раскрытия раздвижного сопла, выполненного из композита с керамической матрицей, и испытания с включением более чем на 2300 секунд одного и того же двигателя (тройное время полета).
 
«Группа SAFRAN довольна решением Европейских министров по космосу продолжить разработку двигателя многократного включения Vinci (R),. Успех испытаний двигателя Vinci (R) позволяет нам приступить к следующему этапу этой программы и укрепить лидирующую позицию SAFRAN в этом секторе», - заявил Марк Вантр, вице-президент группы SAFRAN, курирующий напрвление авиационных и ракетных двигательных установок .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAFRAN - международная Группа, работающая в области высоких технологий и специализирующаяся в трех областях деятельности: авиационные и космические двигательные установки, авиационное оборудование, оборона и безопасность. На 31 декабря 2007 года в Группе работало 63 000 человек в более чем 30 странах. Торговый оборот компании составляет свыше 12 миллиардов евро. SAFRAN Group, объединяющая несколько известных компаний, самостоятельно и в партнерстве занимает лидирующие позиции в указанных сферах на европейском и мировых рынках. SAFRAN является открытой компанией, и зарегистрирована на бирже NYSE Euronext Paris и входит в первую сотню по индексам Euronext.

[Лютич]

Некоторые европейцы ругались: слишком долго тянули с Винчи, слишком долго убаюкивали себя мантрами "экспертов" про грядущее уменьшение масс спутников.

[Alex_II]

Некоторые европейцы ругались: слишком долго тянули с Винчи, слишком долго убаюкивали себя мантрами "экспертов" про грядущее уменьшение масс спутников.

Хе... Наши до сих пор себя этим убаюкивают...

[Космос-3794]

Antonio Fabrizi, ESA's launcher director, said Dec. 18 that the agency signed a 157-million-euro contract with Astrium Space Transportation of Les Mureaux, France, for what is called the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution program. The contract covers two years of work by Astrium, motor-builder Snecma and the other Ariane 5 contractors to conduct reviews of the proposed new upper stage.

ESA government ministers will be asked in late 2011 or early 2012 to approve full-scale development of the Vinci-powered stage, which is designed to increase Ariane 5's payload carrying power to 12,000 kilograms into geostationary-transfer orbit, the destination of most telecommunications satellites.

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/2009-12-18esa-signs-new-contracts-worth-over-500-million-euros.html

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Информация 6-месячной давности (июнь 2009)
France proposing Ariane 6 for 2025 or earlier: a modular launcher for up to 6 t in GTO to replace Ariane 5-ECA and Soyuz rockets

During the first half of 2009, Arianespace signed 10 new contracts for
geosynchronous communications and broadcasting: Hispasat-1E (Spanish
operator), Arabsat-5C & Badr-7 (Arabsat), Yamal-401 & -402 (Russian
Gazprom), Intelsat New Dawn (Intelsat), JCsat-13 (Japanese operator), Alphasat
I-XL (ESa/Inmarsat), ABS-2/ST-3 (Hong Kong), ST-2 (Singapore/Ta

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0912/21ariane/

ESA signs contract for Ariane 5 rocket enhancements
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: December 21, 2009

The European Space Agency has awarded a contract to the maker of the Ariane 5 rocket for early development of a new upper stage to increase the launcher's capacity.
 
   
The Vinci engine. Credit: EADS Astrium

The contract covers the development of a more powerful version of the rocket with a new upper stage and upgraded avionics and software. The enhancements are part of the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution program.

Astrium says the contract is worth more than $200 million over the next two years.

The upper stage will be powered by a new Vinci engine capable of restarting several times to optimize communications satellite launches to geosynchronous transfer orbit. Officials say the new Ariane 5 configuration could be in commercial service by 2017.

The Ariane 5 rocket has flown 49 times since an ill-fated debut launch in 1996, accumulating a record of 35 straight successes since 2003. Earlier versions of the Ariane have been operational since 1979.

"This contract marks a new era for Astrium," said Alain Charmeau, CEO of Astrium Space Transportation. "It's a strong vote of confidence in our abilities that, moreover, comes just as we are about to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the very first Ariane launch on (Dec. 24, 1979). We are all set for another 30 years or more of technological advancements and market success."

The Vinci would replace the HM7B upper stage engine now flying on the Ariane 5 ECA rocket configuration. The HM7B engine is based on the propulsion system of the Ariane 4 rocket family.

The cryogenic Vinci engine would permit the Ariane 5 rocket to deliver 12 metric tons -- nearly 26,500 pounds -- to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Ariane 5 ECA's capacity to the same orbit today is 10 metric tons, or about 22,000 pounds.

Arianespace, the rocket's commercial operator, currently launches two communications satellites at a time on the Ariane 5.

The Vinci could also allow the Ariane 5 to deliver cargo directly into geosynchronous orbit, reducing the fuel needed by satellites and extending their useful lives.

Originally scheduled for a maiden flight in 2006, the Vinci engine development program was slowed in 2005 after budget cuts.

ESA is in charge of funding major European launcher development programs and oversees the partnership with Arianespace for commercial flights. The agency is currently evaluating the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution program and a new launcher to replace the workhorse rocket after 2020.

The ESA Ministerial Council will consider both programs at a meeting next fall.

"We are giving contracts to industry now that we are at the maturation of the project in time for the next Ministerial to make the decision if we move ahead with the evolution of Ariane or not, depending on the situation and the maturity of the technologies," said Antonio Fabrizi, ESA's director of launchers.

The council could decide whether to upgrade the Ariane 5 or focus on development of new vehicle, called the Next-Generation Launcher.

"At the next Ministerial meeting, we shall have to decide on the evolution of Ariane and on the longer term new family of European launchers," Fabrizi said in an October interview.

According to Fabrizi, ESA may look toward a smaller alternative to the Ariane 5 that is better equipped to launch the agency's institutional missions. Only the largest ESA spacecraft launch on the Ariane 5 because of its size.

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Ссылка на статью о выдвижном насадке криогенного ЖРД Vinci выложена здесь:
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8944&start=60

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http://armstass.su/?page=article&aid=79638&cid=125

Ракета-носитель "Ариан" отмечает свое 30-летие в обстановке жесткой конкуренции

ПАРИЖ, 25 декабря. (ИТАР-ТАСС). Главная европейская РН "Ариан" отмечает свое 30-летие в обстановке жесткой конкуренции. Даже через 30 лет после первого запуска с космодрома Куру во Французской Гвиане, который открыл перед Евросоюзом новую эру в области космических исследований, ракета "Ариан" остается вполне конкурентоспособной на рынке коммерческих запусков, несмотря на появление более дешевых соперников, прежде всего китайских носителей.

К настоящему времени были проведены 193 запуска ракет "Ариан", которые вывели на орбиту около 238 спутников из общего числа 277. Причем в некоторых случаях "Ариан" выводила на орбиту сразу два спутника.

Первый успешный испытательный запуск по программе "Ариан" состоялся 24 декабря 1979 г., через девять дней после неудачной попытки. Эта программа была начата в 1973 г. после отказа американцев запускать европейские спутники в коммерческих целях. Исполнители программы "Ариан" сделали выводы из неудач ее предшественника, РН "Европа", и поручили выполнение работ специалистам французского Национального центра космических исследований (КНЕС).

Наряду с государственными запусками научных или военных спутников, коммерческие запуски стали приобретать все большее значение с появлением носителя "Ариан-4", программа разработки которого была одобрена на уровне Евросоюза в 1982 г. Что касается тяжелого носителя "Ариан-5", то ключевыми датами для него стал 1984 г., когда Франция начала работы над его черновым проектом, 1987 г., когда Евросоюз принял решение о его реализации, и 1996 г., когда состоялся первый запуск этой РН. Такие данные сообщил французским журналистам президент-генеральный директор компании "Арианспейс" Жан-Ив Ле Галль.

Однако от весьма дорогой возможности использовать этот носитель для запуска астронавтов пришлось отказаться в 1990 годах. В результате программа "Гермес" приказала долго жить, поскольку у Евросоюза не было достаточной политической воли для ее реализации", - вспоминает Жерар Бреар, технический директор компании "Астриум спейс транспортейшн". После первой неудачи в 1996 г. и неудачного старта тяжелого варианта носителя в 2002 г. "Ариан-5" в конечном итоге утвердилась на рынке коммерческих запусков как тяжелый носитель, и к настоящему времени имеет в послужном списке 35 удачных запусков подряд.

Компания "Арианспейс" извлекла уроки из первых трудных лет работы и сосредоточила усилия на подготовке запусков и операционной деятельности по их контролю, а "Астриум спейс транспортейшн", космический филиал Европейского аэрокосмического и оборонного концерна (ЕАДС), стала заниматься непосредственным изготовлением носителей.

"Ариан-5" будет уникальным носителем для тяжелых спутников в предстоящие 10-15 лет, пока не появятся более мощные "Ариан-6". На космодроме Куру во Французской Гвиане на помощь Евросоюзу для запуска более легких спутников придут российские "Союзы", строительство стартовой площадки для которых уже заканчивается. Что касается самых малых спутников, то для их вывода на орбиту планируется использовать итальянские носители "Вега".

В контексте общемировой конкуренции, отмеченной появлением на рынке коммерческих запусков Китая, "Арианспейс" делает ставку на качество своих услуг. "В сфере цен чувствуется все растущее давление: сегодня наши цены значительно выше, чем у конкурентов, - признает Жан-Ив Ле Галль. - Тем не менее, мы пока обгоняем наших конкурентов, и 2009 год был весьма удачным для нас, поскольку мы гарантируем надежность, доступность и уникальный интерфейс для наших клиентов". Он признался, что был шокирован, когда в марте европейский оператор коммерческих спутников "Евтелсат" заключил контракт с Китаем.

"Двойной запуск, то есть запуск сразу двух спутников, дает возможность сократить разницу в ценах, но и конкуренция здесь очень жесткая, - считает Бреар. - Но этот принцип имеет значительные преимущества, поскольку сегодняшние операторы на рынке коммерческих запусков - это прежде всего финансисты. Если их спутник лежит на складе в ожидании запуска конкурента, это значит, что деньги не работают".

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http://www.spacenews.com/launch/100528-europe-launch-infrastructure-costs.html

Europe's Launch Infrastructure Costs Loom Large Amid Fiscal Crisis
By Peter B. de Selding

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain — Confronting a budget crisis that likely will take years to resolve, European governments have begun debating how to manage the increased operating costs associated with three separate launch vehicles and launch installations at Europe's spaceport in French Guiana.

A parallel debate is taking place over whether Europe's governments can afford to invest in a major improvement to the current Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket even as they start designing a vehicle to succeed it.

In an illustration of how the discussion is being played out, the head of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said here that he is "totally against the idea of an Ariane 6 vehicle." But Johann-Dietrich Woerner said Germany could, at least in principle, support co-investment in an improved Ariane 5 even as work starts on a successor rocket.

The French government, which is expected to finance the biggest share of the post-Ariane 5 rocket even as it pays for nearly 50 percent of the current Ariane 5, has indicated it would use a public bond issue as part of a broader economic-stimulus package to finance work on the next-generation vehicle.

European governments in 2008 agreed to continue preliminary work on an Ariane 5 Midlife Extension vehicle that would employ a cryogenic upper stage and would increase Ariane 5's performance in its core business: simultaneously launching two telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbit.

The current Ariane 5 ECA rocket is able to loft two telecommunications satellites with a combined weight of nearly 9,000 kilograms. A series of small upgrades, including reducing its weight, should, by 2015, nudge that capacity to close to 10,000 kilograms, according to the French space agency, CNES.

European Space Agency (ESA) governments in late 2008 agreed to fund initial work on the Midlife Extension vehicle, with the funds needed to complete development and testing — 1 billion euros ($1.24 billion) or more — to be decided in 2012 at a meeting of ESA government ministers.

Equipped with a new, cryogenic upper stage, the Ariane 5 Midlife Extension vehicle would be able to carry two satellites weighing a combined 11,500 kilograms into geostationary transfer orbit starting around 2017.

But these governments will also be asked in 2012 to approve the start of work on an Ariane 5 successor, to debut around 2025, and possible upgrades to the small Vega rocket, whose inaugural flight has been delayed to early 2011.

Still unclear at this point is whether ESA members will be asked to pay substantially more for the operation of the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana once the spaceport is fully operational with three vehicles at three launch pads. A European version of Russia's Soyuz rocket is scheduled to begin operations at the Guiana center late this year.

The Arianespace commercial launch consortium of Evry, France, which will be operating Soyuz and Vega in addition to Ariane 5, has begun assessing maintenance and operating costs and is advising ESA and CNES rocket-design teams to take account of life-cycle operating costs as well as the costs of a rocket's construction.

Addressing the Space Propulsion 2010 conference here May 3, Arianespace Program Director Louis Laurent gave the example of helium, used to pressurize fuel tanks and flush fuel lines. Once an engine has been designed for helium, it is difficult to switch to some other gas. But helium, he said, is expensive to use.

Laurent said designers should take account of how much different types of fuel — solid, cryogenic or storable propellants — and other consumables cost to produce and to use over the life cycle of a rocket that may remain in operation for 20 years or more.

Similarly, Laurent said Ariane 5's current economic model, based on launching two satellites at a time, was originally designed to reduce costs to satellite owners. It is not, he said, a requirement of the market.

"Operating-cost constraints need to be included fr om the early design phase," Laurent said. "Beyond the classic constraints of reliability and launcher cost, robustness — meaning the ease of production and operations — will be drivers for future success."

Patrice Plotard, head of future launchers at Astrium Space Transportation, the prime contractor for the Ariane 5 rocket, said whatever vehicle follows Ariane 5, it needs "a big reduction in operating costs. In our discussions with our engineers, this is one of the main drivers" for the future vehicle

"We need to design for producibility, and not just design for performance, which was the main goal in the past," Plotard said. "We need to consider it as an industrial product. This requires a change in mindset even within Astrium Space Transportation. It cannot be just an excellent product from a production viewpoint."

Michel Eymard, director of launchers at CNES, said the post-Ariane 5 vehicle needs to be designed to provide a 40 percent reduction in the cost of putting a kilogram of payload into orbit compared with today's Ariane 5 ECA rocket. It also needs to be easy enough to operate so that it can change its mission within two weeks of a launch.

Early CNES designs of the post-Ariane 5 rocket suggest a modular vehicle that typically would launch one large telecommunications satellite at a time, not two, and would be able to survive mainly on the lim ited market for European government payloads. Today's Ariane 5 is mainly a commercial launcher that would require substantially more government investment to be able to survive primarily on government business.

[Космос-3794]

An initial design review of a new, more-powerful upper stage for Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has concluded that the stage is too heavy to deliver the required performance, according to European government and industry officials.
One official said the evaluation, called the Stage and System Concept Review and conducted at Astrium Space Transportation's Les Mureaux, France, facilities the week of June 4, is almost certain to revive questions about whether the proposed Ariane 5 Mid-life Evolution (Ariane 5 ME) investment is worthwhile.
European government officials have been debating for more than a year whether spending some 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) on Ariane 5 ME, which likely will not be in service before 2017, should be scrapped in favor of proceeding directly with a next-generation rocket that ultimately would replace Ariane 5.
The debate remains sensitive as some in Europe, notably the German Aerospace Center, have made strong endorsements of Ariane 5 ME and said they are not prepared to discuss an Ariane 5 replacement at this point.
The 18-nation European Space Agency (ESA) in November 2008 agreed to continue work on the Ariane 5 ME upper stage, notably its Vinci restartable engine, through 2011 with a budget of 357 million euros.
Vinci, developed by Snecma Motors, a division of Paris-based Safran, has been in development for a decade but has suffered from gaps in funding, notably in 2002 as Vinci funds were transferred to current Ariane 5 issues following a launch failure.
In December, ESA awarded Astrium Space Transportation, Ariane 5's prime contractor, an Ariane 5 ME system-design contract valued at 157 million euros, which was drawn from the budget approved in late 2008.
Government officials, in approving the 2008 investment, said they would decide in 2011 or 2012 whether to proceed with full development of the Ariane 5 ME stage, which they estimated would cost an additional 1.5 billion euros.
The Stage and System Concept Review was intended as a six-month checkup on the work.
Equipped with the new Vinci upper stage, the Ariane 5 ME would be able to carry two commercial telecommunications satellites weighing a combined 12,000 kilograms into geostationary transfer orbit, compared with around 9,000 kilograms for the current Ariane 5 ECA vehicle.
The performance improvement would make it much easier for the Arianespace launch consortium of Evry, France, to find two compatible satellites without having to worry about bumping into the vehicle's performance ceiling, especially since satellites weighing 5,000 kilograms have become standard in the commercial market.
But the French government is also beginning early designs for a new Ariane rocket that would carry only one satellite at a time and would feature a modular design enabling it to handle lighter Earth observation and scientific satellites as well as commercial telecommunications spacecraft weighing up to 6,000 kilograms.
The French government has announced plans to use a public bond issue to invest 250 million euros in preliminary work on this vehicle, which in principle could be ready for launch in 2025, according to current planning.
In a June 9 interview, ESA Launcher Director Antonio Fabrizi acknowledged that the initial design of Ariane 5 ME raised questions about its performance, price and development schedule.
But he said that is what the review was intended to do. The review, he said, would be completed in July and will be used to steer Ariane 5 ME development in the coming year.
"Our view is that the recurring cost of building the Ariane 5 ME should be no higher than the cost of building the current ECA version of Ariane 5," Fabrizi said. "Performance is of course a must, but the cost of manufacturing is also an issue, as is the schedule. We are under pressure from our member states to have the vehicle available by around 2016. We'll see whether we can make this date, but in any event an Ariane 5 ME arrival in 2020 would be too late, in which case we will do something else."

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/100611-new-ariane-design-weight-issue.html

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/civil/101022-europeans-struggle-launcher-development-strategy.html

Fri, 22 October, 2010
Europeans Struggle for Consensus on Launcher Development Strategy
By Peter B. de Selding

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan — Europe's launch-vehicle industrial base is heading into a period of turmoil as it introduces Russia's Soyuz rocket into its ranks and struggles for consensus on whether limited resources should be spent improving the current Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift rocket or preparing its successor, or both, European government and industry officials said.

The situation has been made more difficult by issues with the Ariane 5 quality control system that resulted in the cancellation of three launch campaigns since late 2009 because of a faulty helium pressurization component that likely will force the Arianespace launch consortium to report a loss for 2010.

The component in question, whose defect was traced to a change in production practice, has cost Evry, France-based Arianespace "tens of millions" of euros, Arianespace Chief Executive Jean-Yves Le Gall said Oct. 20. Arianespace markets and operates the Ariane 5 rocket.

The cost estimate takes into account the fact that Arianespace and its industrial contractors incurred many of the costs associated with three launch preparation campaigns, only to abort them because of the helium pressurization issue.

"In terms of costs, we have conducted six launch campaigns, even though we have launched only three times" in 2010, Le Gall said here after a Russian Soyuz rocket, marketed commercially by the French-Russian Starsem joint venture, lofted six mobile communications satellites for Globalstar Inc. of Milpitas, Calif.

Le Gall questioned whether the current launch industry practice of imposing only "best efforts" conditions on suppliers is sufficient, or whether penalties for defective products should be introduced.

The helium issue led Arianespace, the French space agency and the European Space Agency (ESA) to order an audit of Ariane 5 quality control. A separate audit was ordered by Astrium Space Transportation of Les Mureaux, France, which is the Ariane 5 prime contractor.

In an Oct. 18 statement, Astrium said its audit concluded that "maintaining competitiveness remained tenuous and needed to be better guaranteed." The company said it has "stepped up its supervision of the program," notably through the introduction of the Ariane Supply Chain Excellence Program begun in 2009.

Astrium Space Transportation Chief Executive Alain Charmeau said in an Oct. 18 statement that ESA government approval of the program called Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution, featuring a new upper stage, is needed "to reinforce the overall effectiveness and the robustness of the industrial chain ... [and] adopt collective measures that reflect our firm commitment to reducing overall costs."

ESA governments have postponed a conference to set budget and program strategy, meaning the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution project is unlikely to enter into force — if it is approved — until 2013. The ESA conference of its 18 member governments had initially been scheduled for late 2010, then 2011, and now is unlikely before the second half of 2012, government officials said.

Astrium officials have said the Les Mureaux design bureau is badly in need of a new project now that the French M-51 ballistic missile and Europe's space station components, notably the Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo freighter, have moved to full production phase. A new Ariane 5 upper stage would help keep engineers busy while waiting for the Ariane 5 successor. ESA's launcher director, Antonio Fabrizi, has said the new upper stage, if approved, must be certain to result in no increase in Ariane 5 operating costs.

An Astrium spokesman on Oct. 21 said no company officials would be made available to elaborate on the conclusions of the Ariane 5 audit, or on specific proposals for the new Ariane 5 upper stage, whose cost has been estimated at about 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion).

The French government, Ariane's biggest contributor, has not clearly indicated its support for the new upper stage, preferring to focus a public bond issue on beginning work on an Ariane 6 rocket that would, in some ways, resemble Russia's current Proton rocket.

The Ariane 6, according to preliminary French studies, would be designed to carry one large telecommunications satellite at a time into geostationary orbit. The vehicle could be developed in different variants to carry lighter telecommunications satellites as well, possibly replacing the European version of Russia's Soyuz, whose first launch from Europe's Guiana Space Center spaceport is scheduled for the first half of 2011.

The German government, whose national industry stands to gain if the Ariane 5 is modified rather than replaced, has publicly expressed its reluctance to finance an Ariane 5 successor at this time.

Government and industry officials say it is still not clear whether the Ariane 5 upgrade would result in a dramatic performance increase over the current Ariane 5 ECA design, or whether there is any commercial market demand for it.

Meanwhile, the imminent introduction of the Soyuz rocket into Europe's launcher stable will complicate the Ariane 5 program even as it broadens Arianespace's product portfolio.

Launched from the equatorial Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, the Soyuz can place a 3,200-kilogram satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. These relatively light telecommunications satellites are now used to fill the manifest of larger satellites — 5,000 kilograms and more — that are Arianespace's bread-and-butter customers. Launching two satellites at a time is essential to maintain the Ariane 5 system's financial viability.

The market response to the European Soyuz from European governments and other customers has been greater than expected, Le Gall said.

"We have 16 Ariane 5 rockets already booked," he said. "That's 32 satellites. But 14 of these satellites have been contracted for either a Soyuz or an Ariane 5. In addition to these, we have a manifest of 17 dedicated Soyuz launches from French Guiana. I don't think anyone anticipated such a high demand for Soyuz, particularly for government satellites."