Viking rocket engine family
Historical European Viking liquid-rocket-engine family used across Ariane 1–4. Safran’s corporate history records that Snecma supplied the Viking engines powering Ariane 4 in 1987 and identifies Snecma as the predecessor of Safran Aircraft Engines; ESA records the Snecma Moteurs Viking 5 on Ariane 4’s first stage, with four engines delivering about 2,720 kN total launch thrust for up to 205 seconds. The family used nitrogen tetroxide and UH25 hypergolic propellants; no current lifecycle or additional vehicle configuration is asserted here.
Identity
- Aliases
- VikingSnecma VikingViking 5
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- family
- Kind
- liquid-rocket-engine
- Name
- Viking rocket engine family
- Status
- historical
Details
- Description
- Historical European Viking liquid-rocket-engine family used across Ariane 1–4. Safran’s corporate history records that Snecma supplied the Viking engines powering Ariane 4 in 1987 and identifies Snecma as the predecessor of Safran Aircraft Engines; ESA records the Snecma Moteurs Viking 5 on Ariane 4’s first stage, with four engines delivering about 2,720 kN total launch thrust for up to 205 seconds. The family used nitrogen tetroxide and UH25 hypergolic propellants; no current lifecycle or additional vehicle configuration is asserted here.
- Manufacturers
- Propellants
- nitrogen tetroxideUH25
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 23:26:23 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 15, 2026 at 10:03:46 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- ESA historical material identifies Viking use on Ariane 1–4 and the Viking 5 first-stage model on Ariane 4, including four-engine total thrust and burn duration.
- Publisher
- European Space Agency
- Title
- Meteosat achievements: Ariane-4 principal characteristics
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- ArianeGroup documents the historical Ariane 2/3 Viking-engine thrust increase and the family’s role in the Ariane launcher progression.
- Publisher
- ArianeGroup
- Title
- Ariane 2: New developments for the European space industry
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-15
- Note
- Safran’s corporate history records that Snecma supplied the Viking engines powering Ariane 4 in 1987 and that Snecma later became Safran Aircraft Engines, supporting the historical Safran manufacturer attribution.
- Publisher
- Safran
- Title
- The Story of Safran Aircraft Engines – from 1945 to 2005