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 |
The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center at 4:05 p.m. Eastern on 2020-01-16.
Arianespace’s first launch of 2020 is an Ariane 5 carrying Eutelsat’s Konnect satellite and ISRO’s GSAT-30 geostationary communications spacecraft.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be shipped from Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Southern California to Kourou, French Guiana for preparation for launch on an Ariane 5.
Arianespace has five Ariane 5 missions planned for 2020.
The Ariane 5 mission carrying Konnect and GSAT-30 slipped from 2019 into January 2020 due to a mixture of spacecraft and launcher delays.
JUICE is expected to reach Jupiter in 2029 regardless of whether it launches on Ariane 5 or Ariane 6.
The Ariane 6 program has a budget of 3,600,000,000 EUR and is planned to succeed the Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket while costing around half as much to produce.
Arianespace completed nine missions in 2019, down from a target of 12 due to delays with an Ariane 5 mission and two Vega launches postponed after a July Vega failure.
Measat selected Arianespace to launch its next satellite, Measat-3d, on an Ariane 5 rocket.
An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket launched on 2019-11-26 from the Guiana Space Center at 4:23 p.m. Eastern carrying Egypt’s TIBA-1 satellite and Inmarsat’s GX-5 satellite.
The 2019-11-26 Ariane 5 launch was delayed two days by a launch site power issue and one day by weather.
Europe is phasing out the Ariane 5 from 2020 to 2023 in favor of the lower-cost Ariane 6, which is now in production.
Prometheus aims to cost 1,000,000 EUR to manufacture by leveraging extensive 3D printing, about one-tenth the cost of Ariane 5’s Vulcain engine.
ArianeGroup expects Ariane 6 to succeed the Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket while costing around half as much to produce.
ESA expects the Ariane 6 to offer launch services for satellites at roughly half the cost of the Ariane 5.
Ariane 6 is designed to launch a wider range of satellites than Ariane 5, including low Earth orbit smallsat constellations and small geostationary satellites.
ArianeGroup has 3D printed parts on the Ariane 5 and plans to include more 3D printed parts on the Ariane 6, which debuts in 2020.
OHB supplies structural components and tanks for the Ariane 5 and upcoming Ariane 6 rockets.
ArianeGroup manufactures the heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket and is developing the upcoming Ariane 6 rocket.
Arianespace tests on recent Ariane 5 launches confirmed higher residual pressure within the payload fairing than the James Webb Space Telescope sunshield was designed for.