- Ariane 2 and Ariane 3
Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 were
expendable launch system s in the Ariane family designed by theCentre National d'Etudes Spatiales .They were almost identical, but Ariane 3 was equipped with strap-on boosters.They were the successors toAriane 1 and predecessors of theAriane 4 .Technical details
Ariane 2 and 3 had the same basic design as
Ariane 1 , but with increased thrust of first and second stage engines, a taller third stage, and a larger internal payload fairing volume.In addition Ariane 3 had two strap-onsolid rocket booster s.Their payload capacity was 2175 to 2580 kg.They were three-stage rockets:
* The first stage was equipped with four N2O4/UH 25 (mixture 75%UDMH and 25%Hydrazine ) bipropellant engines.
* The second and third stages each had a single bipropellant engine. The second stage uses N2O4/UH 25 and the third stage LOX/Hydrogen [http://www.esa.int/images/a_123_img.jpglink title]Launch history
The first launch of Ariane 2 was on
30 May 1986 and was a failure.The remaining launches were all successful.There were only six flights of Ariane 2, the last being on2 April 1989 .The first launch of Ariane 3 was on
4 August 1984 , almost two years before Ariane 2.In total there were 11 flights; only the fifth failed.The small number of flights of Ariane 2 & 3 was due to the arrival of the much more versatile and powerful
Ariane 4 .
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