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 |
Vents in the Ariane 5 payload fairing are being redesigned to address high residual pressure and will be tested on Ariane 5 launches in early 2020.
Ariane 5 was designed to launch a crewed European spaceplane called Hermes.
From 2008 to 2014, Arianespace launched five European Automated Transfer Vehicles to the International Space Station using Ariane 5 rockets.
ESA’s goal for Prometheus is to manufacture the engine for 1,000,000 EUR each, which is one tenth the price of the Vulcain engine used on the first stage of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket.
Ariane 6 was designed to be 50% cheaper than Ariane 5.
Azerspace-2 launched on an Ariane 5 rocket in September 2018 and began commercial service in February.
Arianespace plans to introduce the Ariane 6 and Vega C rockets, which the company views as better adapted to institutional needs than Ariane 5 and Vega.
A customer choosing to remain unnamed selected Ariane 5 for a 2021 flight through Arianespace.
Arianespace conducted seven launches in 2019 and planned to launch as many as four additional satellites on Ariane 5 and Soyuz that year.
Arianespace had eight missions on the Ariane 6 manifest and 11 missions planned for Ariane 5 in 2019.
YahSat’s Al Yah 3 experienced an off-course Ariane 5 launch in 2018 that generated a $115,000,000 claim.
For a typical satellite launch-plus-first-year policy, Ariane 5 insurance premiums declined from about 3.25% of insured value in 2016 to about 2.75% by the first quarter of 2019.
Arianespace launched Sky Perfect JSAT’s first high-throughput satellite Horizons-3e on an Ariane 5 rocket in 2017.
NASA has been working toward a launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on an Ariane 5 in March 2021.
The U.S. Air Force’s Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP) flew in 2011 as part of the SES-2 communications satellite on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) payload launched in 2018 on the SES-14 satellite on an Ariane 5.
Intelsat-39 launched on 2019-08-06 aboard an Ariane 5.
Ovzon-3’s launch on Ariane 5 is planned for the second half of 2021.
Ovzon contracted Arianespace to launch its satellite in 2021 aboard an Ariane 5.
On 2019-08-24 Ovzon exited a preliminary agreement to launch its first fully owned satellite on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy after contracting Arianespace for a 2021 launch aboard an Ariane 5.