Launch failure

[OFSO]

An Ariane and payload of two spacecraft lost in a rare launch failure last night. Trajectory deviation, I'd guess the Range Safety Officer hit the Big Red Button.

[TheGreenGoblin]

An Ariane and payload of two spacecraft lost in a rare launch failure last night. Trajectory deviation, I'd guess the Range Safety Officer hit the Big Red Button.

The Vega light launcher, which would have placed Spain's first satellite into orbit, malfunctioned roughly eight minutes after launching from a space centre in Kourou, French Guiana.

Having taken off at around 11 pm local time (0200 GMT) the launcher slowed before it encountered an unidentified "anomaly," said Arianespace, the company overseeing the launch.

"The mission is lost," CEO Stephane Israel said in a livestream to track the rocket.

It is unclear what caused the failure, but Arianespace said they were working to determine what went wrong.

Vega was supposed to place two satellites—both of which were lost during the mission—around 700 kilometres (435 miles) from Earth.

The mission would have launched Spain's first Earth observation satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA).

It would also have placed into orbit Taranis, a French satellite that would have observed extremely bright electrical phenomena in the planet's upper atmosphere.

The launch's failure is the second in as many years.

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-european- ... keoff.html

[ian16th]

Are these failures insured against?

UP involved?

[Pontius Navigator]

Rare failure - 2nd in two years.

How many do they launch in a year?

[TheGreenGoblin]

Are these failures insured against?

UP involved?

Arianespace is insured by the Union of Aviation Insurers (IUAI) based in the City of London (think Lloyds and reinsurance).

https://iuai.org/IUAI/Resources/Aviatio ... 66e40482d3

[Undried Plum]

One of my three Namecos does buy aerospace risk. I'm not kept informed of individual policies though.

[barkingmad]

Is this the same accident?

Inverted cables doom European Vega rocket https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54979753

I was under the impression that aviation had managed to eliminate crossed controls by the 21st Century but I must have been having one of my hyperventilating turns.

When I was a driver of anything which was just brand new off the line or out of major servicing it was routine to ensure with whomever was inside/outside the ‘craft that the flappy bits on wings & tail moved as advertised.

Do we assume that spacecraft operators have deleted that basic check presumably on the grounds of economy and keeping to schedule?

There are very few new accidents but plenty of old ones replayed by those who oughta know better!

[PHXPhlyer]

Mega OOPS!

PP