Europe's new heavy-lift rocket has failed on its maiden flight. The Ariane 5-ESCA blasted off from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 1921 local time (2221 GMT) and exploded over the Atlantic three minutes later. Sources close to the launch site have told BBC News Online that first indications suggest a failure of the rocket's main Vulcain-2 engine, as its performance was seen to reduce dramatically before the vehicle veered off course. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2565387.stm Oh dear. Not been a very good week for the European Sat. Industry. First Astra being ditched, now this. Boeing & Lockheed must be rubbing their hands together with glee.
The first Ariane 5 blew up, but subsequent launches where ok. This was the maiden flight of the new Uber Ariane5 so essentially it's a new launcher. European rubbish? I wouldn't call it it rubbish - but maybe ig history had been a little different..... http://www.warrenellis.com/mos.html "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the Stars...."
Long ago when the US space program was getting going they had tons of failures.... Have to admit.....awesome fireworks show.....even if it did cost a few billion *dont know real cost just and estimate*
