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Launch Vehicles
Vehicle family profile

Ariane 5

Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.

Manufacturer unknownRetired
Admin
Variants
6
Canonical variants linked to this family.
Historical missions
117
Missions in the public mission table with actual launch dates.
Peak listed capacity
Unknown
Maximum payload capacity across listed variants and orbits.

Launch Cadence

Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.

YearHistorical missionsForecast launches
201670
201760
201860
201940
202030
202130
202230
202320

Performance Specs

Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.

VariantOrbitCapacityAltitudeInclinationSource

No performance specs

No structured payload capacity rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Recent Missions

Latest launched missions using variants in this family.

MissionVariantLaunch
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

Variants

Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.

VariantStagesMissionsStatus
Ariane 5ECA
Not stated72Retired
Ariane 5ECA+
Not stated12Retired
Ariane 5ES
Not stated8Retired
Ariane 5G
Not stated16Retired
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

Forecasted Missions

Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.

MissionVariantAnnounced

No forecasted missions

No upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Ariane 5G+
Not stated3Retired
Ariane 5GS
Not stated6Retired
Track
Mentions
428
All verified mentions of this launch vehicle family in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

Ariane 6 is designed to succeed Ariane 5 as Europe's heavy-lift launch system.

PlanGeneralValue 2.5Jan 30, 2024Ariane 6 joint update report | 2024/01/31

The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day 2021 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

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PlanGeneralValue 4.5Jan 2, 2024Review: Inside the Star Factory

GSAT-24, launched in mid-2022 on an Ariane 5, was NSIL’s first demand-driven communications satellite.

GeneralCapabilityValue 3.8Jan 2, 2024India selects Falcon 9 for communications satellite launch

Ariane 5 performed its final flight in July 2022.

PlanGeneralValue 3.0Jan 2, 2024India selects Falcon 9 for communications satellite launch

Ariane 6 is designed to succeed Ariane 5 as Europe's heavy-lift launch system.

PlanGeneralValue 2.5Dec 17, 2023Ariane 6 joint update report | 2023/12/18

Ariane 6 is designed to succeed Ariane 5 as Europe's heavy-lift launch system.

PlanGeneralValue 2.6Nov 29, 2023Ariane 6 joint update report | 2023/11/30

Vulcain 2.1 is an evolution of the Vulcain 2 engine that powered Ariane 5.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.0Nov 24, 2023ESA Successfully Completes Full-Scale Rehearsal of its New Ariane 6 Rocket

Discussions to use a non-European rocket such as Falcon 9 for Galileo launches occurred because of delays in Ariane 6, the retirement of Ariane 5, and the withdrawal of Soyuz following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

GeneralPlanValue 2.5Nov 7, 2023EU finalizing contract with SpaceX for Galileo launches

The launch agreement calls for allocation of existing infrastructure at the Kourou spaceport for Vega rockets, including using the former Ariane 5 pad for launches of the Vega E.

RelationshipsPlanValue 4.4Nov 7, 2023EU finalizing contract with SpaceX for Galileo launches

Prometheus development uses extensive new materials and manufacturing techniques intended to reduce costs to about one tenth of Ariane 5’s Vulcain 2 engine.

CapabilityFinancialValue 3.5Oct 29, 2023Europe’s reusable rocket engine making progress

Europe’s space access capacity was reduced to zero with the cessation of Ariane 5 activity.

CapabilityGeneralValue 2.5Oct 23, 2023PLD Space Strengthens its Position at the Forefront of European Space Race

Ariane 6 is designed to succeed Ariane 5 as Europe's heavy-lift launch system.

GeneralPlanValue 3.0Oct 18, 2023Ariane 6 joint update report | 2023/10/19

Hylas 4 launched on 2018-04-05 on an Ariane 5 and has a mass of 4,050 kg.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.5Oct 9, 2023Space insurers brace for more claims after propulsion trouble on four GEO satellites

Al Yah 3 launched on 2018-01-25 on an Ariane 5 and has a mass of 3,795 kg.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Oct 9, 2023Space insurers brace for more claims after propulsion trouble on four GEO satellites

MEV-2 launched on 2020-08-15 on an Ariane 5 and has a mass of 2,875 kg.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 9, 2023Space insurers brace for more claims after propulsion trouble on four GEO satellites

Ariane 6 is designed to succeed Ariane 5 as Europe's heavy-lift launch system tailored for multiple payload missions.

PlanGeneralValue 3.0Sep 20, 2023Ariane 6 joint update report | 2023/09/21

Ariane 6 is being developed as Europe's heavy-lift launch system to succeed Ariane 5.

PlanGeneralValue 3.5Sep 3, 2023Ariane 6 joint update report | 2023/09/04

Apart from an Arianespace Ariane 5 mission in December that deployed a pair of C-band replacements and a European weather-tracking satellite, all of Intelsat’s recent launches used SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.

GeneralCapabilityPlanValue 3.7Aug 3, 2023SpaceX launches Intelsat’s last C-band clearing satellite

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, carrying two communications satellites bound for geostationary orbit.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Jul 10, 2023A crisis and an opportunity for European space access

The James Webb Space Telescope, a $10 billion spacecraft, was accurately placed on its trajectory by an Ariane 5 rocket in December 2021.

CapabilityFinancialPlanValue 4.0Jul 10, 2023A crisis and an opportunity for European space access