Ariane 1

This rocket article contains payload capacity, but does not include orbital altitude or inclination, which greatly affects the capacity. Please help improve this article by adding the orbital altitude and inclination for the given payload. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Ariane 1

Ariane 1 mock-up (Photo taken at Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Le Bourget, France)
Function	Medium lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Aérospatiale
Country of origin	European Space Agency
Size
Height	50 m (160 ft)
Diameter	3.8 m (12 ft)
Mass	207,200 kg (456,800 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	4,850 kilograms (10,690 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	1,850 kilograms (4,080 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	ELA-1, Guiana Space Centre
Total launches	11
Success(es)	9
Failure(s)	2
First flight	24 December 1979
Last flight	22 February 1986
Type of passengers/cargo	Giotto
First stage
Powered by	4 Viking-5
Maximum thrust	2,771.940 kN (623,157 lbf)
Specific impulse	281 s (2.76 km/s)
Burn time	145 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Powered by	1 Viking-4
Maximum thrust	720.965 kN (162,079 lbf)
Specific impulse	296 s (2.90 km/s)
Burn time	132 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
Third stage
Powered by	1 HM7-A
Maximum thrust	61.674 kN (13,865 lbf)
Specific impulse	443 s (4.34 km/s)
Burn time	563 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
[edit on Wikidata]

Ariane 1 was the first rocket in the Ariane family of expendable launch systems. It was developed and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), which had been formed in 1973, the same year that development of the launcher had commenced.

Ariane 1 was the first launcher to be developed with the primary purpose of sending commercial satellites into geosynchronous orbit. Crucially, it was designed with the ability of sending a pair of satellites into orbit on a single launcher, thus reducing costs. As the size of satellites grew, Ariane 1 quickly gave way to the more powerful Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 launchers, which were heavily based upon the original rocket.^[1] The Ariane 4 was the last rocket to heavily draw upon the Ariane 1, as the successor rocket Ariane 5 uses a far greater proportion of all-new elements.