THE PARIS AIR SHOW landscape, is dominated by a 50m-high full-scale model of the Ariane 5, due to have its maiden flight in early 1996. The launch was delayed from 29 November, 1994 after computer-program errors delayed the final testing of the vehicle's Vulcain cryogenic first-stage engine, which was to have been carried out with a flight-configured first stage on the ELA 3 launch pad at Kourou, French Guiana. Soci,t, Europ,ene de Propulsion says that five full-duration, 570s test firings will be completed, and will form part of the final phase of preparations before launch. The engine has already been tested more than 285 times, accumulating more than 85,000s of burn time - the equivalent of 170 launches.
Source: Flight International