spacetoday.net: Ariane 5 investigation delays Rosetta launch

Posted: Mon, Dec 30, 2002, 3:00 PM ET (2000 GMT)
Rosetta spacecraft illustration (ESA)

Arianespace announced Monday that it has delayed the launch of ESA's Rosetta comet mission for at least a few days while an investigation into a launch failure last month continues. The company said in a statement that while the investigation continues "irreversible operations" related to the launch have been suspended, forcing a delay from the planned January 12 launch of at least several days. Arianespace said a final decision on the launch will be made by January 11, five days after a final report on the December 11 failure of the Ariane 5 ESC-A booster is scheduled to be completed. Rosetta must launch during a narrow window that opens on January 12 and closes by the end of the month; if the launch is delayed beyond the end of January the spacecraft would not be able to reach its target, comet Wirtanen. If the inquiry board finds that the launch failure is linked to the ESC-A version Rosetta will likely be cleared for launch as it will fly on an older baseline Ariane 5.