Ariane 1 () was the first rocket in the Ariane family of expendable launch systems. It was developed for and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), which had been formed in 1973, the same year that development of the launcher had commenced. Aérospatiale was designated to lead the programme. 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. 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.
Development
Origins
In 1975, ten European countries decided to pursue joint collaboration in the field of space exploration and formed a new pan-national organisation to undertake this mission, the European Space Agency (ESA). For some time prior to the ESA's formation, France had been lobbying for the development of a new European expendable launch system to serve as a replacement for the Europa rocket; one proposed successor in the form of a refined Europa, referred to as the Europa IIIB, was studied but was found to be too ambitious and costly.
In January 1973, Willy Brandt, the Chancellor of Germany, formally agreed to the L3S project following a series of personal approaches by Georges Pompidou, the President of France. Development of L3S was seen as a crucial test for the ESA, the fortunes of the former being viewed as being highly indicative for the future of the latter. According to author Brian Harvey, L3S was "one of the major European engineering projects in the last quarter of the century".
France was the largest stakeholder in the L3S programme; French aerospace manufacturer Aérospatiale served as the prime contractor and held responsibility for performing the integration of all sections of the vehicle, while French engine manufacturer Société Européenne de Propulsion (SEP) provided both the first and second stage engines (the third stage engines were produced by Air Liquide and German aerospace manufacturer MBB). Other major companies involved included the French electronics firm Matra, Swedish manufacturer Volvo, and German aircraft producer Dornier Flugzeugwerke.
Preparation
During mid-1974, work on the Ariane was temporarily suspended as a result of the substantial cost involved; several other French space projects has incurred delays or funding shortages due to the ongoing development, which had led to disruption and greater funding being made available by the French government to their national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES). The ESA decided that there should be a total of four development flights flown prior to initiating commercial operations; however, vacant space was made available to operators for these flights on the proviso that success was not guaranteed. The former Europa launch site was re-designated as ELA 1 (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 1 — ) and was rebuilt with a lowered base and elongated tower. While all Ariane launches would take place from French Guiana, rocket construction would be performed at Aérospatiale's facility in Les Mureaux, near Paris. One week later, ESA announced its commitment to a production run of 10 Ariane 1 launchers.
Maiden flight
There was considerable pressure for Ariane to perform its maiden flight prior to end of 1979.
Launches
On 24 December 1979, the first Ariane launch, designated as L-O1, was conducted, which was successful. The third launch, L-O3 succeeded, which resulted in the orbiting of three separate satellites; the fourth and last qualification launch, L-04, was also a success. However, during the fifth launch, which was the first commercial mission to be performed by Ariane, designated as L5, the rocket ceased functioning after 7 minutes of flight. This failure was traced back to a single turbopump in the third stage that had stopped functioning, and a significant re-design of elements of the third stage was performed as a result.
The failure of the first commercial flight had created a tense atmosphere along with a flurry of criticism being aired about the Ariane programme. Following the completion of a complete review of the programme, on 16 June 1983, the second commercial flight, L6 was successfully launched into orbit. This began a run of successful flight for the launcher, the following six flights were all successes. As a result of the repeated successes, orders for the type increased quickly; by early 1984, a total of 27 satellites had been booked for Ariane, which was half of the world market at that time. As a result of the commercial success, after the tenth Ariane mission was flown, the ESA transferred responsibility for Ariane over to Arianespace. By early 1986, the Ariane 1, along with its Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 derivatives, were the dominant launcher on the world market.
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