spacetoday.net: Arianespace to perform quality reviews after recent scrubs

Posted: Mon, Apr 12, 2010, 6:47 PM ET (2247 GMT)
Ariane 5 v194 on pad before launch (Arianespace)

European launch services provider Arianespace announced Monday that it would convene a task force and perform a quality audit after two launch attempts in recent weeks were scrubbed because of technical glitches. The task force will report by the end of this week on the latest launch scrub, when the Ariane 5 countdown was stopped with under a minute remaining because of a helium pressurization problem. A previous launch attempt in late March was also scrubbed because of a technical problem; a launch in December was also postponed because of a helium pressurization issue. A separate quality audit will look for the underlying reasons for the latest problems and propose solutions. No new launch date for the next Ariane 5 mission has been announced, but Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said that a launch before May would still allow the company to meet its goal of seven launches this year.