SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-214.01 PHASE 3-D WILL LAUNCH ON ARIANE 502 HR SPECIAL AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 214.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, AUGUST 1, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-214.01 It's now official...AMSAT's Phase 3-D International Satellite will be a passenger on the next launch of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane 5 mission, AR 502. The launch of Phase 3-D on AR 502 has now been formally slated by ESA to occur "within the first six months of 1997". However, AMSAT officials are now working to complete all integration and testing efforts for the Phase 3-D satellite in time for a launch that could come as early as mid-February, 1997. The latest announcement came on July 27 during a joint AMSAT-DL/AMSAT-NA presentation on Phase 3-D's status to the 1996 AMSAT-UK Colloquium at the University of Surrey in England. The decision to re-confirm launch of Phase-3-D via AR 502 was made immediately following a series of high level meetings between AMSAT and ESA officials at ESA's Headquarters in Paris, France on July 23rd and 24th attended by Phase 3D Project Leader Dr. Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President Keith Baker, KB1SF and AMSAT-NA Vice President for Engineering Dick Jansson WD4FAB. These meetings occurred in conjunction with ESA's public announcement of results from their formal Inquiry Board investigating the failure of the first Ariane 5 launch, AR 501, in early June. "We have been given strong assurances that ESA has taken the recommendations of the AR 501 Inquiry Board to heart and are now 'rolling up their shirtsleeves' to correct those deficiencies in time for the Ariane 502 launch next year," said Dr. Meinzer. He went on to say that, "I am very confident that ESA will do all that can possibly be done to insure our launch is successful." AMSAT-NA's Keith Baker was equally positive about the latest developments for Phase 3-D's launch. Keith noted that, "The fact that the investigators were able to use recovered debris and subsequent laboratory analysis to duplicate the exact sequence of events that caused the AR 501 failure gives us renewed confidence for the prospects of a successful launch on AR 502." In addition, Baker went on to say that, "It is also readily apparent that the Inquiry Board's findings and recommendations went well beyond immediate hardware and software issues to address the primary root causes of the AR 501 failure." AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, also viewed the latest launch developments for the Phase 3-D satellite as good news. "However", said Tynan, "this still places responsibility for completion and testing of Phase 3-D firmly in our court." He went on to note that, "We must still finish final integration and testing of the satellite by year end, conduct the launch campaign, and insure the necessary funds are secured to do so." Tynan concluded that, "Even if our launch goes as it is now scheduled, we will have still incurred an unplanned program stretch-out of a year or more. This translates directly into a critical need for additional funding to insure Phase 3-D is compete and flight-ready when ESA tells us it is time to launch," he said. ANS thanks Keith Baker, KB1SF, for providing this special bulletin information. /EX