Three options to re-fly the Cluster science mission will be considered by the European Space Agency (ESA) later this month. The four original craft, worth a total of $400 million, were lost in the Ariane 501 maiden-launch failure. The most economical and beneficial to the science community will be to build four iden- tical spacecraft and launch them on a free ride on an Ariane 44L, says John Credland, ESA project manager. The other, less attractive, options are to launch four smaller minisats, or to reconstruct the fifth Cluster ground-spare spacecraft and launch it alone.
Source: Flight International