SB SAT @ AMSAT  $ANS-270.01
PHASE 3-D SLATED FOR LAUNCH IN APRIL, 1997 ON ARIANE 502

HR SPECIAL AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 270.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, SEPTEMBER 26, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-270.01
 

In a published report released Thursday September 26 by the European Space
Agency (ESA), Mr. Jean-Marie Luton, Director General of ESA, and Mr. Alain
Bensoussan, Chairman of CNES (the French Space Agency) announced that the
launch of Ariane 502 has now been tentatively set for mid-April, 1997.   It
was also confirmed that the Phase 3-D International Amateur Radio Satellite
will be on this flight.  The other payloads are to be a pair of
technological measurement packages for validation of the launch vehicle's
ability to place two satellites into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

These announcements came during a joint ESA-CNES press conference at ESA
Headquarters in Paris called to outline the respective plans of the two
agencies to correct identified deficiencies in the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. 
The actions are in direct response to a comprehensive report submitted in
July by the Ariane 501 Inquiry Board that was chartered to investigate the
loss on launch of the first Ariane 5 booster in early June. 

During the press conference, it was also reported that ESA's Atmospheric
Reentry Demonstrator (ARD), a technology demonstration capsule for a future
European manned space transport vehicle, along with an as yet unspecified
commercial payload, is to be flown on a subsequent Ariane 5 vehicle, Ariane
503, which has been made a part of the Ariane-5 qualification process. 
This flight could take place in September 1997.  The ARD had earlier been
slated to fly on Ariane 502 along with the AMSAT Phase 3-D satellite.

In today's announcement, Mr. Luton and Mr. Bensoussan outlined several
specific actions that are now being taken by ESA and CNES to assure the
correction of software contained in the Ariane 5 inertial reference system.
Errors in this software was previously reported by ESA as being one of the
primary causes of the Ariane 501 failure.  Corrective actions include
making changes to the Ariane 5 Functional Simulation Facility to make the
qualification tests more representative of the flight environment, as well
as performing a comprehensive review of all the embedded software contained
in the launch vehicle.

ESA and CNES also announced that the industrial architect on the Ariane 
project will henceforth assume the role of "software architect".  This
change will allow not only for verification of all software incorporated in
equipment but also will help insure the overall functional integrity of the
launcher.  Mr. Luton and Mr. Bensoussan went on to note that this means
that all of the launch vehicle's software will now become subject to
qualification reviews in which outside experts will take part.

In addition, the joint ESA and CNES announcement reported that working 
methods used in the Launcher Qualification Review have now been modified to 
introduce specialized audits on the most complex launcher systems in order
to provide closer analysis wherever this is deemed necessary.  A
comprehensive review of the launcher's qualification is now also reported
to be underway along with systematic efforts to identify "degraded" modes
of operation that could affect launcher elements.

ANS thanks Keith Baker KB1SF for summarizing the statement issued at this
EAS/CNES press conference.
/EX