PARIS (Reuters) – Arianespace’s failed satellite launch in December was likely to have been caused by a faulty carbon component, which Italian aerospace group Avio had purchased in Ukraine, the company said, as it published findings of an enquiry on Friday.
An Arianespace mission on Dec. 20 carrying two Airbus Defence & Space satellites failed around two and a half minutes into flight when an anomaly occurred with Zefiro 40 rocket motor.
Arianespace immediately set up an independent inquiry commission to look into the case.
“No weakness in design of the Zefiro 40 has been revealed,” Arianespace said in a statement, referring to the rocket motor which powers the second stage of its new Vega C rocket, used to send satellites into orbit.
“The Commission confirmed that the cause was an unexpected thermo-mechanical over-erosion of the carbon/carbon (C/C) composite constituting the nozzle throat insert, purchased by Avio in Ukraine,” the company said. It gave no further details.
This specific composite material is now banned from flying, Arianespace said.
Avio is one of the partners in Arianespace, a rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The company is majority-owned by a joint venture of Airbus and Safran.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, writing by Tassilo Hummel. Editing by Jane Merriman)
