Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.
Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.
| Year | Historical missions | Forecast launches |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 0 |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 |
| 2018 | 6 | 0 |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 |
Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.
| Variant | Orbit | Capacity | Altitude | Inclination | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No performance specsNo structured payload capacity rows are linked to this vehicle family. | |||||
Latest launched missions using variants in this family.
| Mission | Variant | Launch |
|---|---|---|
| H2SAT/Syracuse 4B | Ariane 5ECA+ | Jul 5, 2023 |
| JUICE Mission | Ariane 5ECA+ | Apr 14, 2023 |
| Galaxy 35/36/MTG-I1 | Ariane 5ECA+ | Dec 13, 2022 |
| Eutelsat Konnect VHTS Mission |
Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.
| Variant | Stages | Missions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Ariane 5ECA | Not stated | 72 | Retired |
Ariane 5ECA+ | Not stated | 12 | Retired |
Ariane 5ES | Not stated | 8 | Retired |
Ariane 5G | Not stated | 16 | Retired |
Ariane 5ECA+ |
| Sep 7, 2022 |
| Measat 3D/GSAT-24 | Ariane 5ECA+ | Jun 22, 2022 |
| JWST Mission | Ariane 5ECA+ | Dec 25, 2021 |
| SES-17/Syracuse 4A | Ariane 5ECA+ | Oct 24, 2021 |
| Star One D2/Eutelsat Q | Ariane 5ECA+ | Jul 30, 2021 |
Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.
| Mission | Variant | Announced |
|---|---|---|
No forecasted missionsNo upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family. | ||
Ariane 5G+ | Not stated | 3 | Retired |
Ariane 5GS | Not stated | 6 | Retired |
ArianeGroup oversees the Ariane 5 industrial supply chain from performance optimization and studies to production, stage integration, and launcher integration in French Guiana.
NASA estimated that the James Webb Space Telescope would launch about four months after the 2021-07-30 Ariane 5 launch based on a cadence of one Ariane 5 launch every two months, implying a launch no earlier than late November.
The 2021-07-30 launch was the first of two Ariane 5 launches scheduled before the planned launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
The Ariane 5 upper stage deployed the Eutelsat Quantum satellite six minutes after deploying Star One D2 into a geostationary transfer orbit.
An Ariane 5 launched two commercial communications satellites on 2021-07-30.
The Ariane 5 upper stage deployed the Star One D2 satellite 30 minutes after liftoff into a geostationary transfer orbit.
The European Space Agency and Arianespace completed the final mission analysis review for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on an Ariane 5 on 2021-07-01.
The 2021-07-27 Ariane 5 launch of two commercial satellites is the first of two Ariane 5 missions planned before the JWST launch.
Problems with the payload fairing separation system on two Ariane 5 launches in 2020 and 2021 effectively grounded Ariane 5 after its last launch in August 2020.
An independent review commissioned by NASA of JWST in 2018 recommended that NASA increase oversight of the Ariane 5 to the same level as the agency does for missions launching on U.S. vehicles.
The James Webb Space Telescope launch will take place about four months after the first of the two commercial Ariane 5 launches ahead of it.
Arianespace will launch the first MTG satellite on one of its last Ariane 5 missions in late 2022.
Ariane 5 is retiring in 2022, prompting a shift of some MTG launches to Ariane 6.
Ariane 5 last launched in August 2020, placing two communications satellites and Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle 2 into geostationary transfer orbit.
Industry sources reported that fairing separation on the February 2020 and August 2020 Ariane 5 launches induced vibrations into the payload stack well above acceptable limits.
MEV-2 was launched on 2020-08-15 from Kourou, French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.
Arianespace currently expects to perform three Ariane 5 launches in 2021, two carrying commercial satellites and one carrying NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Soyuz is operated side-by-side at the Spaceport with Arianespace's Ariane 5 and Vega launch vehicles.
Vega is the new-generation, highly versatile member of Arianespace’s launcher family alongside the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and medium-lift Soyuz, deployed from the Guiana Space Center.
EUMETSAT selected Arianespace for the launch of its MTG-I2 imaging satellite by confirming an option that was placed in July 2015 initially on Ariane 5 and will now use an Ariane 6.