Ariane 5 Completes 50th Consecutive Successful Launch

European aerospace company Arianespace has once again proved its leadership in rocket design and manufacturing today, August 3, when it managed its 50th consecutive successful rocket launch.

The delivery system in question is called Ariane 5, and represents the heaviest rocket the European Space Agency (ESA) has access to. In addition to this vehicle, the agency uses the small Vega launchers and the medium-sized Soyuz rockets.

Today's launch, which occurred from Ariane 5's dedicated launch pad at the Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America, saw the Intelsat 20 and HYLAS 2 satellites being successfully injected into their respective transfer orbits.

The event again underlines the reliability, flexibility and performances of Ariane 5, a delivery system that only experienced two (partial) failures during its entire flight career, Space Fellowship reports.