Tim Furniss/LONDON
THE EUROPEAN SPACE Agency (ESA) and French space agency CNES say that the maiden flight of the Ariane 5 has been delayed from January, to "late April 1996".
The latest delay puts the launcher a year behind its original schedule. The Ariane 501 will carry four Cluster science satellites when it finally takes off.
A second ESA-funded demonstration flight, the 502, carrying the Intelsat 709 communications satellite, has been rescheduled from May, to September 1996.
The first operational commercial mission by Arianespace, carrying the PanAmSat 6 satellite, is unlikely before 1997.
Arianespace commercial operations were originally to have started in April 1996.
ESA and CNES report that, while tests on the launcher's cryogenic main stage, have obtained "positive results", there have been "malfunctions". A leak in an oxygen feed line and a hydrogen leak at thrust-frame level required modifications.
On 1 September "...a fault in the high-pressure oil-distribution system, which was subject to a water-hammer effect", affected the actuator system of the Vulcain first-stage engine (Flight International, 20-26 September).
An overall verification test without actually firing the engine, has been scheduled for October to validate the necessary changes.
Source: Flight International