TEST HITCH INTERRUPTS ARIANE MOTOR TRIALS
An error interrupted testing of an Ariane
rocket third stage starter motor on Monday but there should be
little or no delay in the launch program, Arianespace said.
    A joint statement from the European Arianespace consortium
and the motor manufacturer Societe Europeenne de Propulsion
(SEP) said that to avoid any risk, the motor had been
dismantled and could not be used in the next launch.
    It had immediately been replaced by another motor and new
tests had begun today.
    "In these conditions, the flight V19 remains scheduled
before the end of June," the statement said.
    Ariane launches have been suspended since an ignition
failure in the third stage motor last May forced controllers to
blow up a rocket in flight.
    SEP has been carrying out a series of nearly 50
simulated-altitude tests on the redesigned starter at its
tightly guarded plant in the town of Vernon, 80 km northwest of
Paris.
    The Arianespace-SEP statement said that during a test on
March 23, a fault in the preparation of the altitude simulation
chamber meant a component of the motor came under abnormal
pressure.
    Arianespace originally hoped to resume launches by February
this year, but a longer-than-expected test program on the new
starter motor forced postponement of the next launch.
    The total orderbook of outstanding launches for the
13-member European Space Agency's Ariane rockets runs to more
than 40 satellites and is worth more than two billion dlrs.
    The Ariane program is the main rival to the United States'
NASA agency in the lucrative satellite launch market. Its
orders have sharply increased largely as a result of the U.S.
Space shuttle disaster in January 1986.
 REUTER
