Ariane 5 version
Ariane 5 Ariane 5ECA+
The last operational version, with an improved ESC-D cryogenic upper stage. It flew twelve times without a single failure between 2019 and 2023, launched the James Webb Space Telescope and closed the Ariane 5 programme.
- August 6, 2019
- First launch
- No
- Reusable
History
The farewell version
The Ariane 5ECA+ (Evolution Cryotechnique type A+) first flew successfully on 6 August 2019 with an ESC-D cryogenic upper stage improved over the ECA's ESC-A. It was the configuration of the programme's final years: twelve flights, twelve successes.
Tuned for Webb
Flight VA253, on 15 August 2020, introduced two small changes that increased lift capacity by about 85 kg: a lighter avionics and guidance-equipment bay and modified pressure vents on the payload fairing. Both were required for the most demanding mission that followed, the James Webb Space Telescope, which departed on flight VA-256 in December 2021. In 2021 flight VA-255 placed 11,210 kg into geostationary transfer orbit.
Closure
The last Ariane 5 lifted off on 5 July 2023, closing a programme of 117 launches since 1996 while Ariane 6 was awaited.