ELA-1

Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 1 / Ensemble de Lancement Vega
Launch site Guiana Space Centre
Location 5°14′10″N 52°46′30″W / 5.236°N 52.775°W / 5.236; -52.775
Short name CECLES, ELA-1, ELV
Operator European Space Agency
CNES
Total launches 32
1 Europa
11 Ariane 1
5 Ariane 2
9 Ariane 3
6 Vega
Launch pad(s) One
Launch history
Status Active
First launch 5 November 1971
Europa II / STV-4
Last launch 3 December 2015
Vega / LISA Pathfinder
Associated
rockets
Europa II
Ariane 1
Ariane 2
Ariane 3
Vega (active)

ELA-1, short for Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 1 (French for Ariane Launch Area 1), also known as Ensemble de Lancement Vega, ELV, and CECLES, is a launch pad at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guyana. It has been used to support launches of the Europa rocket, Ariane 1, Ariane 3, and is currently used to launch Vega rockets.[1]

History

Europa (CECLES)

ELA-1, at the time designated CECLES was constructed as an equatorial launch site for the Europa-II rocket which was being built as part of the ELDO programme. The first launch occurred on 5 November 1971. This was the only flight of the Europa-II, which ended in failure due to a guidance problem. The launch site was mothballed, and later demolished.

Ariane (ELA)

When the Ariane 1 programme was started, to replace the failed ELDO programme, a new launch site was built on the site of the former CECLES pad. This was designated Ensemble de Lancement Ariane, or ELA for short. The first Ariane 1 launch occurred on 24 December 1979. ELA was also used by Ariane 2 and 3 rockets, which first flew on 31 May 1986 and 4 August 1984 respectively. ELA was redesignated ELA-1 when the Ariane 4 entered service in 1988, as this launched from a separate launch pad, designated ELA-2. The Ariane 1 was retired on 22 February 1986, the Ariane 2 on 2 April 1989, and the Ariane 3 on 12 July 1989. ELA was subsequently demolished.

Vega (SLV)

A new launch pad built at ELA-1 and designated Site de Lancement Vega, or SLV, was constructed for the Vega rocket. Vega made its first launch from the complex on 13 February 2012.

Launch History

Date Flight Launcher Payload Result References
1 November 5, 1971 F-11 Europa 2 satellite mockupFailure[2]
2 December 24, 1979 L-1 Ariane 1 CAT-1 Success [3]
3 May 23, 1980 L-2 Firewheel Subsat-1,2,3,4
Amsat P3A
CAT 2
Failure [3]
4 June 19, 1981 L-3 Meteosat 2
Apple
CAT 3
Success [3]
5 December 20, 1981 L-4 MARECS 1
CAT 4
Success [3]
6 September 10, 1982 L-5 MARECS B
Sirio 2
Failure [3]
7 June 16, 1983 L-6 ECS 1
Amsat P3B (Oscar 10)
Success [3]
8 October 19, 1983 L-7 Intelsat 507 Success [3]
9 March 5, 1984 L-8 Intelsat 508 Success [3][4]
10 May 23, 1984 V-9 Spacenet F1 Success [3][4]
11 August 4, 1984 V-10 Ariane 3 Eutelsat 2
Telecom 1A
Success [4][5]
12 November 10, 1984 V-11 Spacenet F2
MARECS 2
Success [4][5]
13 February 8, 1985 V-12 Arabsat 1A
Brasilsat A1
Success [4][5]
14 May 8, 1985 V-13 GStar 1
Télécom 1B
Success [4][5]
15 July 2, 1985 V-14 Ariane 1 Giotto Success [3][4]
16 September 12, 1985 V-15 Ariane 3 Spacenet 3
ECS 3
Failure [4][5][6]
17 February 22, 1986 V-16 Ariane 1 SPOT 1
Viking
Success [3][4][6]
Flight V-17 (Ariane 3) was the first flight to launch from ELA-2 on 28 March 1986 [5][7]
18 May 31, 1986 V-18 Ariane 2 Intelsat V-A F 14 Failure [4][6][8]
19 September 16, 1987 V-19 Ariane 3 Aussat A3
ECS 4
Success [4][5][6]
Flight V-20 (Ariane 2) launched from ELA-2 on 20 November 1987 [6][7][8]
20 March 11, 1988 V-21 Ariane 3 Spacenet 3R
Télécom 1C
Success [4][5][6]
Flight V-22 (Maiden flight Ariane 4) launched from ELA-2 on 15 June 1988 [4][6][7]
21 May 17, 1988 V-23 Ariane 2 Intelsat V-A F 13 Success [4][6][8]
22 July 21, 1988 V-24 Ariane 3 Insat 1C
ECS 5
Success [4][5][6]
Flight V-25 (Ariane 3) launched from ELA-2 on 8 September 1988 [5][6][7]
23 October 28, 1988 V-26 Ariane 2 TDF 1 Success [4][6][8]
24 January 27, 1989 V-28 Intelsat V-A F 15 Success [4][6][8]
25 April 2, 1989 V-30 Tele-X Success [4][6][8]
26 July 11, 1989 V-32 Ariane 3 Olympus 1 Success [4][5][6]
Flights V27, V29 and V31 were launched from ELA-2. V27, V29 and V31 were all operated by Ariane 4 rockets[7]
From July 1989 until February 2012, no rockets were launched from ELA-1. As an alternative, ELA-2 and ELA-3 were used.
Meanwhile, construction works were under way to prepare the pad for the lightweight Vega rocket.
27 13 February 2012 VV-01 Vega
  • Lares
  • XaTcobeo (cubesat)
  • e-st@r (cubesat)
  • ROBUSTA (cubesat)
  • MaSat-1 (cubesat)
  • Goliat (cubesat)
  • PW-Sat-1 (cubesat)
  • UNICubeSat-GG (cubesat)
Success [9]
28 7 May 2013 VV-02
  • Proba V
  • VNREDSat 1A
  • ESTCube-1
Success [9]
29 30 April 2014 VV-03 KazEOSat-1 Success [9]
30 11 February 2015 VV-04 IVX Success [9]
31 23 June 2015 VV-05 Sentinel-2A Success [9]
32 3 December 2015 VV-06 LISA Pathfinder Success [9]

Situation on 31 December 2015

See also

References

  1. "Operations". Arianespace. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  2. "Europa". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Ariane 1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Kourou ELA 1". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Ariane 3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Harvey, Brian (February 14, 2003). "List of European space launchings". Europe's Space Programme: To Ariane and Beyond. Book Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 358–361. ISBN 978-1-852-33722-3.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kourou ELA-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ariane 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Vega Milestones". Arianespace. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
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