AIAA 2014-1624

SpaceOps Conferences
5-9 May 2014, Pasadena, CA
13th International Conference on Space Operations 2014

Ariane 5 production and integration operations: ten years

of continuous efficiency and quality improvement

David Iranzo-Greus 1
Airbus Defence and Space, 78130 Les Mureaux, France

For the past ten years Ariane 5 has proved to be the world’s most reliable commercial
launcher for the benefit of the European Space Agency (ESA) and European national
agencies and governments, launching their institutional and scientific missions as well as for
commercial operators. With 59 consecutive successful launches for all Ariane 5 versions
between 2003 and 2014, quality and efficiency have been demonstrated, meeting the
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expectations of ESA governments who financed its development. Airbus Defence and Space
(Airbus DS) is the prime contractor for the manufacturing and assembly of the launcher,
delivering to Arianespace a fully tested and integrated launcher in the Launcher Integration
Building in Kourou, French Guiana. Throughout its production and integration sites in
Europe and in Kourou, Airbus DS is managing a large industrial network, bringing together
the most successful launcher on the market today. The success of the launcher has been
built on the quality and the reliability of the operations performed for the manufacturing
and the integration of the stages and the launcher. These operations are performed and
managed by a lean and efficient team of engineers and technicians. Launcher integration
and checkout operations duration in Kourou has been reduced by 20% in the past 7 years,
down to a standard duration of 20 working days, and a further 10% decrease is foreseen in
the near future. This reduction has been achieved thanks to: a rigorous supply chain
management which has allowed improving the quality of the delivered elements and limiting
the number of non conformances to be treated during stage and launcher integration; a
solid definition of quality standards and procedures that are applied throughout the
industrial process, from the suppliers up to launcher integration (where needed, these
quality procedures have been reinforced, based on lessons learned from production and
operations activities); an adaptation of the checkout tests performed to optimize the overall
industrial process between Europe and Kourou in order to perform the most relevant
technical verifications at the right moment; a thorough preparation of the operations in
Kourou, aiming at minimizing launcher-specific operations, and systematically integrating
lessons learned from previous integration campaigns. The previous points have
automatically led to a reduction in the number of non-conformance reports during launcher
integration operations, decreasing by a factor of 2 from 2003 to 2013. The remaining
technical events are analyzed and treated in a fast and efficient manner in coordination
between the operational team in Kourou and the support team in Europe. The role of the
engineering teams is fundamental in supporting the production activities and operations, to
guarantee the flightworthiness of the real hardware with respect to the qualified launcher
definition. And of course, this increased quality in launcher integration has been shared
with our customer, Arianespace, who has launched with success a large number of very calm
flights. After each flight, telemetry is analyzed to confirm the perfect behavior of the
launcher and identify and correct any potential non-nominal event. In this sense, ESA’s
Launcher Exploitation and Accompaniment Program (LEAP) contributes to maintaining
the launcher in its qualified status. Airbus DS’s experience and lessons learnt in stage and
launcher integration operations on the Ariane 5 launcher are being implemented in the
development for ESA of the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution and Ariane 6 launchers.

1
Head of Launcher Engineering, Ariane 5 Exploitation Program, Space Systems, 51-61 route de Verneuil - 78130
Les Mureaux, France.
1
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 Nomenclature
A5ES = Ariane 5 with EPS storable propellant upper stage
A5ECA = Ariane 5 with HM7-B cryogenic upper stage
A5ME = Ariane 5 with Vinci cryogenic upper stage
Airbus DS = Airbus Defence and Space, subsidiary of the Airbus Group
ATV = Automated Transfer Vehicle
BAF = Final Assembly Building (Bâtiment d’Assemblage Final)
BIL = Launcher Integration Building (Bâtiment d’Intégration Lanceur)
CNES = French Space Agency (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales)
CSG = Guyana Space Center (Centre Spatial Guyanais)
EAP = Ariane 5 solid boosters (Etage d’Accélération à Poudre)
EPC = Ariane 5 main cryogenic stage (Etage Principal Cryotechnique)
ELA = Ariane Launch Area (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane)
ESA = European Space Agency
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ISS = International Space Station

LEO = Low Earth Orbit
MPS = Ariane 5 solid rocket motor (Moteur à Propergol Solide)
ZL = Launch Pad (Zone de Lancement)

I. Introduction

A RIANE 5 is the European launcher currently putting into orbit more than half of the commercial
telecommunications satellites in the world. Besides this important commercial record, Ariane 5 responds to the
European governments needs in terms of launching institutional payloads.
This paper will initially present the current Ariane 5 configurations and the organization of the manufacturing
and integration activities which take place throughout Europe and in French Guiana. Airbus Defence and Space
organization, presented in paragraph III, has been set up to manage a large network of companies throughout the
continent. These production and integration operations in Europe and in French Guiana have been optimized, as
will be presented in paragraph IV. In the end, the results
of the streamlining of the activities have been associated
with quality improvement plans, leading to a significant
reduction of non-conformance reports at all integration
sites. This will be presented in paragraph V. Finally,
paragraph VI will present how Airbus DS is using the
lessons learnt from the exploitation of Ariane 5 today to
improve and develop future launchers, the Ariane 5 Mid-
Life Evolution and Ariane 6.

II. Ariane 5 Launcher Definition

Ariane 5 launcher is a three-stage launcher, consisting
of two solid propellant boosters (EAP) around a central
core including two liquid propellant stages. The lower
liquid propellant stage is the EPC, propelled by the
Vulcain 2 engine, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid
oxygen. For the upper liquid stage, the Ariane 5 has
currently two versions in service: Ariane 5 ECA and
Ariane 5 ES.
The first version, A5ECA, is the workhorse for most
commercial missions, targeting GTO orbits for
commercial telecommunications satellite operators, with a
Figure 1. Lift-off of Ariane 5 from Kourou, French
payload performance of more than 10 metric tons. This
Guiana
launcher version includes the ESCA upper stage, a liquid-

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 hydrogen and liquid-oxygen high
performance stage, propelled by the
HM7B engine, a long-lived engine
with a long heritage going back to
Ariane 1.
The second version, A5ES, is
today used to launch the European
logistics vehicle ATV towards the
International Space Station, with a
lift-off weight of more than 20
metric tons. It is equipped with an
EPS storable-propellant upper stage,
propelled by the Aestus engine,
burning MMH and N204. This
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same version is currently being

adapted for the launch of Galileo
satellites, the European navigation
constellation.
For both launchers, a Vehicle
Equipment Bay (VEB) contains the
on-board computers and other
electronic equipment.
On top of the launcher, one or
two satellites are integrated for
GTO missions on ECA, on their
respective payload adaptors and Figure 2. Ariane 5 ECA elements
including the SYLDA double-
launch structure and the fairing.

A. Assembling a launcher
The different stages are assembled in different locations in Europe and French Guiana:
1) The EAPs solid propellant boosters are, for safety and cost reasons, manufactured and assembled directly
in the European Spaceport in French Guiana by Europropulsion. Only the upper segment of the boosters is
manufactured by Avio in Colleferro, Italy and shipped by boat to Kourou.
2) The EPC main cryogenic stage is assembled in Airbus DS facilities in Les Mureaux, France and shipped by
boat to Kourou.
3) The ESC-A and EPS upper stages, together with the VEB, are assembled in Airbus DS facilities in Bremen,
Germany, and shipped by boat to Kourou.
4) The fairing and payload adaptors are manufactured by RUAG in Switzerland and Sweden and by Airbus
DS in Spain and also shipped
Supply by boat to Kourou.
chain
Products With the arrival of all the elements
in French Guiana, the assembly
operations of the launcher starts in the
Stage Airbus DS Launcher Integration Building (BIL),
Integration Airbus DS
declares
Technical Synthesis(Launcher File) ariane 5

where Airbus DS manages the

Flightworthiness
Launcher integration of all the stages, up to the
Integration Launcher upper stage and carries out all the
Mission In Kourou acceptance necessary testing to deliver a fully
requirements
Out of BIL integrated and tested launcher to
KOUROU Arianespace, launch operator.
Mission assessment,
mission data,
flight software
Having assembled the hardware,
ARIANESPACE
Airbus DS is also responsible for the
missionisation of the launcher, which
Figure 3. Ariane 5 production and integration process includes performing the Mission
Analysis studies and the
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 missionisation and testing of the flight software, which is then uploaded into the launcher onboard computer.
After delivery to Arianespace, the launcher is transferred to the Final Assembly Building (BAF) where the
satellites and payload adaptors are integrated under Arianespace responsibility on the launcher, followed by the
payload fairing. After final assembly the launcher is transferred to the launch pad (ZL) for countdown operations,
including cryogenic propellant filling, which take place a few hours prior to launch.

III. Organizing a large industrial network

Ariane 5 is a complex system, including 70 major components (known as Configuration Controlled Parts)
coming from 35 major subcontractors from all over Europe. The major subcontractors are Snecma for the liquid
propulsion systems and Europropulsion for the solid propulsion. The propulsion systems account for roughly half of
the cost of the launcher.
The organization implemented by Airbus DS for the management of the production process and operations is
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one where technical validation and quality are the key. From the procurement of parts up to the launch, technical
and quality networks guarantee the flightworthiness of the launcher.
During acceptance and incoming inspection of parts and subsystems from subcontractors, non qualities are
identified and documented, and the technical network, including technical authorities for the given part, but also for
the launcher, agree on the acceptability of the non-quality with respect to the launcher flightworthiness. The same
process is applied on any non-qualities and anomalies that might arrive during stage or launcher integration
activities, which are monitored by technical and quality teams. By the end of launcher integration activities, when
the launcher is delivered to Arianespace for transfer to the Final Assembly Building, all technical events haven been
treated and properly documented in the Launcher File, which tracks all events and operations and gives the
flightworthiness of all launcher elements, including the flight software and the mission customization data.

A. Technical Network
The technical network includes engineers and experts with a very good knowledge of a part, a subsystem, a stage
or the overall launcher. Depending on the criticality and potential impacts of a technical event, the treatment is
performed at different levels of the network:
1) Technical Product Managers or Product Technical Authorities are engineers with expertise and good
technical knowledge of the products/parts or subsystems coming from subcontractors.
2) Technical Authorities at stage and launcher level have an overall transverse knowledge of the stage and the
launcher, including the interfaces with the ground installations and the launch operations.
3) The Launcher Consistency team assures the overall consistency of technical decisions, including technical,
quality, qualification
Deliverables towards the Customer:
and programmatic ARIANESPACE
Technical Product Managers Modification Files, Launcher File, Waivers,
issues. Operations Specifications, Synthesis note,
Mission Analysis, Flight S/W, …
Supply Chain Products
4) The Chief Engineer TPM Subco XX Technical Authorities
is the highest Launcher System
…

EPC Mechanical & Functional Perimeters

technical authority TPM Subco YY
EAP Mech. & thermal perimeter Airbus DS
MPS Functional perimeter
for the Ariane 5
…

ESC Mechanical perimeter

Technical
TPM Subco ZZ VEB / EPS Mechanical perimeter
Chief Advisory
Exploitation ESC Functional perimeter
Launcher
Engineer Board
Upper Parts
System
Program, making all Stage integrations (AIT)
Launcher Electrical System and Software Consistency CTO and
General
Flight S/W and ground means
the decisions TPM Stage EAP
Flight Control Subsystem
Inspector

regarding major Telemetry Subsystem / Data Bases Flightworthiness

TPM Stage EPC Safety and Power Subsystems
Avionics Synthesis
ariane 5

issues, and certifying Software Architect

Flight S/W,
measurement data
TPM Stage UC
Components Expert
to Arianespace the TPM Stage EPS Development Authority Mechanical / System
base, operations
specifications,
ARIANESPACE
flightworthiness of Development Authority Electrical Systems spare parts,
mission analysis
TPM Stage SYLDA
the launcher before
each flight.
5) The Technical
Advisory Board is
headed by the Airbus
Figure 4. Ariane 5 Technical Network
DS Chief Technical

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 Officer and includes
the company’s Quality Managers
Deliverables towards the Customer: ARIANESPACE
Launcher File, Waivers, Synthesis note, Alerts,
General Inspector as Supply Chain Products Audits, Quality Assurance Plan…

well as experts from QM Subco XX

…
different fields. QM Subco YY
QM Synthesis Launcher
Difficult technical

…
Launchers Airbus DS
QM Subco ZZ Production
QM Lower Composite propulsion, Directorate Quality
issues, requiring a Structures and Avionic Equipments Quality
Quality Board
Management
company-level Stages & Launcher integrations (AIT) QM Lower Composite Direct Materials
& Coherence CTO/CQO, Quality
QM Stage EPC & Launcher Launchers
decision, are raised QM UC Propulsion, Structures, Direct Quality
Board, General
Inspector
Materials Programme
to this board. QM Stage EAP
QM EAP Stage
Quality
Manager
QM Stages UC & EPS/VEB QM EPC Stage
QM SYLDA
Flightworthiness
Flight S/W,
B. Quality Network QM SYLDA
QM Flight Software
measurement data ariane 5

base, operations
QM Pyrotechnics
The quality network QM SEL & Mission Analysis
specifications, ARIANESPACE
spare parts,
guarantees that the Ariane 5 QM Pyrotechnics mission analysis
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program quality rules are

respected and that all
technical events are treated « A5 Quality Network »
with the appropriate rigor.
But the people in this quality Figure 5. Ariane 5 Quality Network
network also have a very
solid technical knowledge of the launcher, thus contributing in a constructive manner to the decisions taken.
Similarly to the technical network, and depending on the criticality and potential impacts of a technical event, the
treatment is performed at different levels of the quality network:
1) Product Quality Managers treat quality issues related to the supply chain elements, in cooperation with the
Product Technical Authorities.
2) Synthesis Quality Managers control all issues raised for a given stage during its integration activities and
for the launcher integration activities.
3) The Ariane 5 Production Quality Manager assures the overall consistency of the quality treatment for the
production process, and works in close cooperation with the Launcher’s Quality Director, which has also a
vision on development activities.
4) At company level, the Airbus DS Chief Quality Officer and General Inspector guarantee the quality process
for the entire company.

IV. Optimizing European home-base and Kourou operations

In 2004, when Airbus DS became responsible for the launcher integration activities in French Guiana, an
optimization of the overall industrial chain was initiated. In order to optimize the launcher integration operations,
analysis were performed on all testing activities initially performed at stage integration sites in France and Germany.
The aim of these analyses was:
1) To assure that all tests performed at stage integration level would not require an additional test after
launcher integration. If it was the case, the test at stage level was suppressed and, if needed, the test at
launcher level was reinforced.
2) To assure that all potential risks during launcher and stage integration activities (for example cabling
inversions) could be cancelled by an appropriate test later on in the process.
3) To transfer all tests initially performed at stage integration level to an « as-late-as-possible » test, in order to
assure that the launcher is as close as possible to the final launch configuration.

This streamlining of the integration process was performed on all stages, leading to reduced cycle times and
more robust operations. Launcher integration and checkout operations duration in Kourou has been reduced by 20%
in the past 7 years, down to a standard duration of 20 working days, and a further 10% decrease is foreseen in the
near future.

Today launcher integration activities are prepared by the engineering and operations teams several weeks ahead
of the start of each integration campaign:

5
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 1) A BIL Design Review meeting takes place, including engineering, operations, launcher management and
quality teams. In this meeting all launcher-specific operations are identified by the engineering teams,
linked to specific technical events, launcher modifications or mission specificities. Following this meeting,
the operations teams prepare the corresponding operations description sheets, which will be implemented
by the operators.
2) The sheets are reviewed by the same teams one week later,
during the REPLICA (BIL Campaign Planning Meeting), to
assure that all requested operations are properly prepared and
that a solid planning of the operations is ready.
3) A few days prior to starting the integration campaign, the
RPC (Campaign Preparation Review) meeting takes place
with the Arianespace operations team, in charge of the ground
infrastructure. The readiness of the ground installations to
start launcher integration is confirmed and launcher-specific
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ground operations, if any, are validated.

Launcher integration activities are carried out in the Launcher

Integration Building (BIL) in Kourou with the following teams:
1) A Launcher Integration Manager (RIL) in Kourou is in
charge of all activities, focal point for all other teams and
decision maker. He/she is responsible for customer interfaces
and manages the Launcher Delivery to Arianespace at the end
of BIL activities.
2) A Launcher Quality Manager (RQL) in Kourou is responsible
for the treatment of all non-conformances that might arrive
during integration operations. He/she assures the correct
treatment of these technical events in coordination with the Figure 6. Ariane 5 upper composite is
engineering and operations teams. lifted on top of the main stage during
3) An Integration Operations Manager (ROI) in Kourou is in assembly operations in BIL
charge of the planning of all the operations and manages all
the operators working in integration activities. Several teams, coming from Airbus DS sites in Germany
and in France, are under his/her supervision: operators, inspectors and test managers.
4) Launcher Definition Engineers (RD) for each of the stages and for the launcher, are assigned to each
campaign and work from the home-base in Europe or directly in Kourou to treat potential technical events
that might arrive during the campaign, and to prepare operational specifications that might be required.

Every evening, a planning meeting takes place in Kourou with all the teams, where all operations performed
during the day and to be performed the next day
Number of NCRs during AIT in Kourou (BIL) are listed. Issues are discussed in order to assure
the planning of the coming operations.
5-launcher moving
average

V. Towards Quality Excellence

The streamlining of operations in Europe and in
French Guiana has been implemented together with
successive quality improvement plans, aiming at
taking advantage of lessons learnt and avoiding
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L5

Figure 7. Non-Conformance Reports during Launcher technical events of the campaign are screened,
Assembly Integration and Testing in the Launcher causes are identified and actions are defined to
Integration Building from 2003 to 2013. improve the situation for the future.
The results of this continuous improvement can

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 be seen in Figure 7, where the non-conformance
reports during launcher integration activities is Number of Launcher-Specific Operations

shown since Airbus DS took over responsibility

for launcher integration. This level has been
drastically reduced and continues to decrease: a
factor 2 between the NCR’s in 2003 and today.
At the same time, figure 8 shows the launcher-
specific operations. With the progressive
industrialization of the products and operations,
modifications and technical events have been
reduced leading to a reduction of specific
operations.

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Figure 8. Launcher-Specific operations during Launcher

VI. And the results seen in flight
Assembly Integration and Testing in the Launcher
The constant and drastic reduction in technical Integration Building from 2003 to 2013.
events during launcher production and integration
activities has largely contributed to the 100% launch success rate seen by Arianespace on its Ariane 5 launcher since
2003. Not only reliability has been demonstrated, but also the launcher availability: in the past 2-and-a-half years,
14 flights have launched right on time with no launcher-dependent event causing a launch postponement.
Not only all satellites have been delivered as expected, but the number of minor events seen in flight has also
been in constant decrease.
After each flight, Arianespace organizes the Level 0 analysis of flight information, where telemetry data is
analyzed by Arianespace, Airbus DS and its subcontractors to confirm the correct behavior of all launcher elements
and identify any unusual events that require immediate or long-term actions. Following this initial analysis the
green light is given for the following flight and actions are taken for a more in-depth exploitation of events during a
Level 1 exploitation.
Minor flight events
Level 1 analysis is performed by Airbus
DS and its subcontractors, thanks to the
support of the European Space Agency,
through its Launcher Exploitation and
Accompaniment Program (LEAP). The
outcome of these more-in-depth analyses
can lead to modifications to increase the
robustness of the launcher design.
One of the outcomes of these
continuous flight exploitations has been the
Performance Improvement Plan, initiated
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by ESA. Among other things, this project

Figure 9. Minor flight events identified during Level 0 flight has leveraged results of flight experience to
exploitation 2003 to 2013. refine the characteristics of all the
propulsion systems of the launcher,
reducing uncertainties and dispersions and therefore leading to a reduction in propellant reserves needed to
guarantee the success of the mission. This, of course, has led to an increased performance, which is today higher
than 10 tons, more than 1.5 tons above the initial performance at the beginning of Ariane 5 ECA exploitation.

VII. Lessons learnt looking into the future

As prime contractor for the production and development activities of the Ariane 5 launcher, Airbus DS is using
the large experience and lessons learnt from the exploitation of the current Ariane 5 system to develop operation-
efficient systems for the future.
Currently, two important Ariane or Ariane-related development programs are on-going in which production
teams are involved, bringing the knowledge and experience of Ariane 5: Ariane 5 ME and Ariane 6.
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 A. Ariane 5 ME
With the increase in satellite masses and in order to increase the operational flexibility, allowing Arianespace to
use any pair of satellites for any launch, the European Space Agency launched in 2008 the development of an
improved version of Ariane 5: the Midlife Evolution. This version introduces a new cryogenic upper stage with
increased propellant capacity and a new Vinci engine, developed by Snecma. This new stage leads to an increase of
the launcher payload capacity by 2 tons and adds additional versatility with the reignition capability of the upper
stage. Airbus DS is in charge of the development of this new launcher version, whose first flight is foreseen in
2018.
The main lessons learned from Ariane 5 production and operations that are being used in the development of the
new launcher version are:
1) Early industrialization of the new upper
stage, starting at the Preliminary Design
Review, to improve the future production
phase and reduce the costs of exploitation.
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2) Integration in the launcher design of the

requirements of the new French Space Law,
which impose certain constraints, for instance
on the deorbitation of the upper stage.
3) Despite the increase of 2 tons in launcher
performance and the added capability to
perform missions with upper stage re-
ignitions, the cost of Ariane 5 ME will
remain the same as the current Ariane 5 ECA Figure 10. Ariane 5 ME new upper stage with Vinci
version. engine, in-flight configuration

B. Ariane 6
In order to drastically reduce the cost of access to space while adding
flexibility by offering single-launch opportunities, the European Space Agency
launched in 2012 preliminary development activities for a new launcher Ariane
6. The configuration of Ariane 6 is radically different from Ariane 5: four
solid propellant stages constitute the first and second stages of the launcher (in
a configuration 3+1), whereas the upper stage reuses the Ariane 5 ME’s Vinci
engine on an adapted cryogenic upper stage. The objective in cost reduction is
mainly achieved by the series production of 4 identical solid propellant stages
per launcher.
Airbus DS is currently in charge of the system studies aiming at refining
the launcher definition, including the production, assembly and launch
operations. Therefore, the lessons learned from Ariane 5 are also being used to
further improve and streamline operations for this new launcher.
The main elements are:
1) Selection of a single-launch approach, facilitating access to space to
all satellite customers while reducing the cost of exploitation.
2) New integrated design methods, using lean and concurrent
engineering to accelerate and better master development activities. Figure 11. Ariane 6
3) Leaning out of the industrial set-up, with an improved application of artist view
geographical return constraints, allowing for a reduction of costs.

VIII. Conclusion
For the past 10 years, Ariane 5 has been successfully launching payloads to space. The most reliable
commercial launcher in the world today, Ariane 5 also has a very good availability record, with on-time launches
being the rule. This ever-improving quality has been achieved despite continuous cost reductions necessary to keep

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 Ariane 5 competitive in the global market and reduce exploitation costs. Streamlining measures implemented in the
production process and operations have all been performed keeping quality as the number one target.
As prime contractor for the launcher, Airbus DS has implemented an organization to manage the large European
industrial network, putting quality at the center, relying on technical and quality networks for both hardware and
software activities.
The results seen during launcher integration operations and in flight speak for themselves: 100% success with
operational non-conformances and particular flight events constantly decreasing.
Looking into the future, Airbus DS is using the lessons learnt from the launcher exploitation for the development
of the new launcher systems, Ariane 5 ME and Ariane 6.

Acknowledgments
This paper has been written thanks to the elements provided by the Quality, Operations and Launcher
Management teams at Airbus DS.
Downloaded by OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY on June 18, 2014 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/6.2014-1624

The author would also like to thank our customers, the European Space Agency and Arianespace for relying on
Airbus DS for the development and production of Ariane 5, as well as their contribution and advice on this paper.

References
1
Poincheval, C., Vivet, E., Juhls, A., Albat, R., Resta, P. D., Bugnet, O., “Adapted Ariane-5ME after the Ministerial Council
2012” IAC-13. D2.1.5, October, 2013.

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics