At the time of the failure of the first Ariane 5 ECA flight in 2002, all Ariane 5 launchers in production were ECA versions. Some of the ECA cores were modified to use the original Vulcain engine and tank volumes while the failure was investigated; these vehicles were designated Ariane 5 GS. The GS used the improved EAP boosters of the ECA variant and the improved EPS of the G+ variant, but the increased mass of the modified ECA core compared to the G and G+ core resulted in slightly reduced payload capacity. Ariane 5 GS could carry a single payload of 6,600 kg (14,600 lb) or a dual payload of 5,800 kg (12,800 lb) to GTO. The Ariane 5 GS flew 6 times from 2005 to 2009 with no failures.
Specifications
- Thrust
- 12,000 kN
- Height
- 55 m
- Diameter
- 5.4 m
- Launch mass
- 750 t
- Stages
- 2
- Launch cost
- —
- LEO capacity
- —
- GTO capacity
- 6,600 kg
- GEO capacity
- —
- SSO capacity
- —
Vehicle specifications from Launch Library; blanks are unpublished figures.
Flight record
Counted from padside's own launch record — the same basis as the Stats page.
Launches
- Ariane 5 GS | Helios 2B — Success
- Ariane 5 GS | RASCOM-QAF 1 & Horizons-2 — Success
- Ariane 5 GS | Intelsat 11 & Optus D2 — Success
- Ariane 5 GS | INSAT-4A, Meteosat 9 — Success
- Ariane 5 GS | Syracuse 3A & Galaxy 15 — Success