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 |
Arianespace completed the 100th launch of a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket on 2018-09-25.
Ariane 6 is scheduled to begin launching in 2020 and will operate concurrently with Ariane 5 during a three-year transition period that ends in 2023.
The Ariane 5 first launched in 1996.
Arianespace’s next mission after 2018-09-25 was an Ariane 5 launch of BepiColombo, a Mercury-bound spacecraft for the European and Japanese space agencies, scheduled for 2018-10-19.
The Ariane 5 launch on 2018-09-25 carried the Horizons-3e and Intelsat-38/Azerspace-2 satellites.
Azercosmos’ half of Intelsat-38/Azerspace-2 is the company’s second telecom satellite, with Azerspace-1 being its first launched in 2013 on an Ariane 5.
Ariane 5 completed 82 consecutive successful missions from 2002 until January of the same year when a rocket with incorrect coordinates placed two satellites in off-target orbits.
Al Yah 3 is a Ka-band satellite that launched in January on an Ariane 5 rocket.
Al Yah 3 launched in January on an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket and provides coverage in Africa and Latin America.
Eutelsat signed a three-launch agreement for Ariane 5 missions in June 2017.
ViaSat-2 launched on an Ariane 5 in June 2017.
Viasat previously signed a launch agreement with Arianespace for a ViaSat-3 satellite on an Ariane 5 rocket.
Eutelsat can revert missions to Ariane 5 before Ariane 5’s planned retirement in 2023.
Ariane 6 is scheduled for a first launch in 2020 and is intended to cost customers 40 percent less than launching on an Ariane 5.
ArianeGroup leads development and production of the Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 rockets.
Ariane 5 can carry 20,000 kg to LEO and 11,115 kg to GTO.
Europe planned to sell Ariane 6 rockets for about half of the $178,000,000 Bryce Space and Technology estimates Arianespace charges for Ariane 5 missions.
Arianespace operated Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega rockets and was Europe’s main launch service provider in 2014.
Eutelsat-25B/Es’hail-1 launched in August 2013 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.
Arianespace launches Europe’s Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega rockets from the Guiana Space Center.