Ariane 503 | ARD and Maqsat-3
The final Ariane 5 qualification flight released ESA's Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator on a suborbital trajectory and injected the Maqsat-3 representative payload into geostationary transfer orbit. ARD completed Europe's first controlled launch-to-recovery spaceflight cycle with a Pacific splashdown.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Ariane 5 flight 503Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator launch
- Name
- Ariane 503 | ARD and Maqsat-3
- Slug
- ariane-503-ard-maqsat-3-mission
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- The final Ariane 5 qualification flight released ESA's Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator on a suborbital trajectory and injected the Maqsat-3 representative payload into geostationary transfer orbit. ARD completed Europe's first controlled launch-to-recovery spaceflight cycle with a Pacific splashdown.
- End Date
- 1998-10-21
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- Successful Ariane 5 qualification, Maqsat-3 injection and ARD reentry demonstration
- Program
- Ariane 5 qualification programme
- Start Date
- 1998-10-21
- Vehicle Families
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 18, 2026 at 21:58:11 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 18, 2026 at 21:58:11 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles