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 ELV launch pad in 2017 | |||||||||||
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| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 5°14′10″N52°46′30″W / 5.236°N 52.775°W /5.236; -52.775 | ||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−03 (GFT) | ||||||||||
| Short name | ELV | ||||||||||
| Operator | Arianespace · ESA | ||||||||||
| Total launches | |||||||||||
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ELV (French:Ensemble de Lancement Vega,lit. 'Vega Launch Complex') is alaunch complex at theGuiana Space Centre inFrench Guiana supporting launches of theVega andVega C rockets. It was first built in November 1971 and was previously used to support launches of theEuropa,Ariane 1 andAriane 3 rockets.
ELA-1, at the time designatedBEC (French:Base Équatoriale du CECLES,lit. 'CECLES Equatorial Base') was constructed as an equatorial launch site for theEuropa-II rocket which was being built as part of theELDO 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.
When theAriane 1 programme was started, to replace the failed ELDO programme, a new launch site was built on the site of the former BEC, re-designated asELA (French:Ensemble de Ariane,lit. 'Ariane Launch Complex'). The firstAriane 1 launch occurred on 24 December 1979. ELA was also used byAriane 2 andAriane 3 rockets, which first flew on 31 May 1986 and 4 August 1984 respectively. ELA was redesignated ELA-1 when theAriane 4 entered service in 1988, as this launched from a separate launch pad, designatedELA-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.
In November 2001, started the redevelopment of the pad to accommodate theVega rocket and the ELA-1 was redesignated ELV.[1] The reconstruction retained the Ariane 1 flame trench and added a new 50 m tall retractable vertical assembly building to cover the rocket during the preparation, four lighting protection masts and a new launch tower for the rocket. The launchpad is sometimes also designated asSite de Lancement Vega (SLV) andZone de Lancement Vega (ZLV). Vega made its first launch from the complex on 13 February 2012.[2]
| N° | Date | Flight | Launcher | Payload | Result | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 November 1971 | F-11 | Europa II | satellite mockup | Failure | [3] |
| 2 | 24 December 1979 | L-1 | Ariane 1 | CAT-1 | Success[4] | |
| 3 | 23 May 1980 | L-2 | Firewheel Subsat-1,2,3,4 Amsat P3A CAT 2 | Failure | [4] | |
| 4 | 19 June 1981 | L-3 | Meteosat 2 Apple CAT 3 | Success | [4] | |
| 5 | 20 December 1981 | L-4 | MARECS 1 CAT 4 | Success | [4] | |
| 6 | 9 September 1982 | L-5 | MARECS B Sirio 2 | Failure | [4] | |
| 7 | 16 June 1983 | L-6 | ECS 1 Amsat P3B (Oscar 10) | Success | [4] | |
| 8 | 19 October 1983 | L-7 | Intelsat 507 | Success | [4] | |
| 9 | 5 March 1984 | L-8 | Intelsat 508 | Success | [4][5] | |
| 10 | 23 May 1984 | V-9 | Spacenet F1 | Success | [4][5] | |
| 11 | 4 August 1984 | V-10 | Ariane 3 | Eutelsat 2 Telecom 1A | Success | [5][6] |
| 12 | 10 November 1984 | V-11 | Spacenet F2 MARECS 2 | Success | [5][6] | |
| 13 | 8 February 1985 | V-12 | Arabsat-1A Brasilsat-A1 | Success | [5][6] | |
| 14 | 8 May 1985 | V-13 | GStar 1 Télécom 1B | Success | [5][6] | |
| 15 | 2 July 1985 | V-14 | Ariane 1 | Giotto | Success | [4][5] |
| 16 | 12 September 1985 | V-15 | Ariane 3 | Spacenet 3 ECS 3 | Failure | [5][6][7] |
| 17 | 22 February 1986 | V-16 | Ariane 1 | SPOT 1 Viking | Success | [4][5][7] |
| Flight V-17 (Ariane 3) was the first flight to launch fromELA-2 on28 March 1986[6][8] | ||||||
| 18 | 31 May 1986 | V-18 | Ariane 2 | Intelsat VA F-14 | Failure | [5][7][9] |
| 19 | 16 September 1987 | V-19 | Ariane 3 | Aussat A3 ECS 4 | Success | [5][6][7] |
| Flight V-20 (Ariane 2) launched fromELA-2 on20 November 1987[7][8][9] | ||||||
| 20 | 11 March 1988 | V-21 | Ariane 3 | Spacenet 3R Telecom 1C | Success | [5][6][7] |
| Flight V-22 (Maiden flight Ariane 4) launched fromELA-2 on15 June 1988[5][7][8] | ||||||
| 21 | 17 May 1988 | V-23 | Ariane 2 | Intelsat VA F-13 | Success | [5][7][9] |
| 22 | 21 July 1988 | V-24 | Ariane 3 | INSAT-1C ECS 5 | Success | [5][6][7] |
| Flight V-25 (Ariane 3) launched fromELA-2 on8 September 1988[6][7][8] | ||||||
| 23 | 28 October 1988 | V-26 | Ariane 2 | TDF 1 | Success | [5][7][9] |
| 24 | 27 January 1989 | V-28 | Intelsat VA F-15 | Success | [5][7][9] | |
| 25 | 2 April 1989 | V-30 | Tele-X | Success | [5][7][9] | |
| 26 | 11 July 1989 | V-32 | Ariane 3 | Olympus-1 | Success | [5][6][7] |
| FlightsV27, V29 and V31 were launched fromELA-2.V27, V29 and V31 were all operated byAriane 4[8] | ||||||
| From July 1989 until February 2012, no rockets were launched from ELA-1. As an alternative,ELA-2 andELA-3 were used. In November 2001, construction works started to prepare the pad for the lightweight Vega rocket. | ||||||
| 27 | 13 February 2012 | VV-01 | Vega | Success | [10] | |
| 28 | 7 May 2013 | VV-02 | Success | [10] | ||
| 29 | 30 April 2014 | VV-03 | KazEOSat 1 | Success | [10] | |
| 30 | 11 February 2015 | VV-04 | IVX | Success | [10] | |
| 31 | 23 June 2015 | VV-05 | Sentinel-2A | Success | [10] | |
| 32 | 3 December 2015 | VV-06 | LISA Pathfinder | Success | [10] | |
| 33 | 16 September 2016 | VV-07 | PeruSat-1 4Terra Bella satellites | Success | [10] | |
| 34 | 5 December 2016 | VV-08 | Göktürk-1A | Success | [10] | |
| 35 | 9 March 2017 | VV-09 | Sentinel-2B | Success | [10] | |
| 36 | 2 August 2017 | VV-10 | OPTSAT-3000 VENμS | Success | ||
| 37 | 8 November 2017 | VV-11 | 2 MN35-13 satellites | Success | ||
| 38 | 22 August 2018 | VV-12 | ADM-Aeolus | Success | ||
| 39 | 21 November 2018 | VV-13 | Mohammed VI-B | Success | ||
| 40 | 22 March 2019 | VV-14 | PRISMA | Success | ||
| 41 | 11 July 2019 | VV-15 | FalconEye 1 | Failure | ||
| 42 | 03 September 2020 | VV-16 |
| Success | ||
| 43 | 17 November 2020 | VV-17 | Failure | |||
| 44 | 29 April 2021 | VV-18 |
| Success | ||
| 45 | 17 August 2021 | VV-19 |
| Success | ||
| 46 | 16 November 2021 | VV-20 | CERES × 3 | Success | ||
| 47 | 13 July 2022 | VV-21 | Vega-C |
| Success | [11] |
| 48 | 21 December 2022 | VV-22 | Pléiades Neo 5 & 6 | Failure | [12] | |
| 49 | 9 October 2023 | VV-23 | Vega |
| Success | [13] |
Situation on 10 October 2023
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