Last Saturday, the 25th of December 2021, from Kourou spaceport, Ariane 5 launcher successfully injected the James Webb space telescope Saturday toward its final orbit, which it will reach in a month. "Good separation Webb telescope, Go Webb," announced Jean-Luc Voyer from mission control center in Kourou. The upper stage of the Ariane rocket released after 27 minutes of flight the telescope, which will now take about a month to reach its observation post at 1.5 million km from Earth. Ariane 5 had risen in the sky of Kourou at the scheduled time, carrying the most sophisticated instrument of observation of the universe to go in space. Manufactured by NASA, with the collaboration of the European space agencies (ESA) and Canadian (ACS), the precious spacecraft flew over the Atlantic, then Africa, until the final separation, intervened at 1.400 km of altitude and a speed of more than 34.000 km/h. Jame Webb Telescope, in integration & preparation room, 1 week prior to its launch An onboard camera embarked on the upper stage of Ariane showed this separation and especially the deployment a few seconds later of the solar panels of James Webb. The images of this critical moment, to ensure in particular the power supply of the instruments of the telescope, triggered a thunder of applause in the Jupiter mission control, as strong as that which had marked the success of the separation. The commands of the James Webb are now in the hands of Nasa, from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (USA). It will supervise the delicate deployment operations of the observatory, before its arrival at the Lagrange 2 point, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The first scientific operations will begin in six months. GTD’s Team did perform an excellent (hard) work This last launch as always since year 2003, each time an Ariane 5, a Soyuz or a VEGA are launched from the spaceport in Guiana, as well as the payload, many hours of work are required from GTD’s technical teams. GTD supplies services and software in practically all steps of an Ariane 5 mission – from the launcher's flight program to the responsibility of ground systems that control the launching operations, as well as the radars, telemetry and mission control systems. Each launch is also a challenge for GTD’s team, who is responsible for all the computer systems at the launch site. Each launch is a fresh new project; there is no routine, which means our engineers always embark on an adventure than goes beyond technical jobs that require a lot of responsibility. Countdown: The campaign to prepare a launcher takes about 22 - 30 working days, and a campaign to prepare the payload (satellite) takes from 4 weeks to 5 months (depending on the mission and its magnitude). Our teams are currently able to launch up to seven double Ariane 5, up to four soyuz and up to two Vega per year, that is, 14 telecom satellites and 4 to 6 EO and scientific spacecraft every year. Launch day: The end of the countdown is near. The final operations to fill the liquid propellants on the Ariane 5, and then the ground operation tests are carried out on the launcher. During this stage, gtd's staff is working hard all round the Spaceport. In the launch site's bunker, the technical centre, in Des Pêres Mountain where the radar and telemetry installations are, in the meteorological centre where the last conditions before the launch is authorised. At the same time, a support team is configuring a backup of the computer systems in Barcelona, 8,000 km away from the Ariane 5, which is already letting out oxygen steam. Ariane is launched: Once the launcher is in the air, it is controlled on board (by the embedded computer) and from the Jupiter Control Centre (CDC). These two systems were also designed by GTD’s engineers and are currently being operated by GTD’s engineers, too. Once the launcher releases the payloads, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and starts clapping and cheering and congratulating each other; but our engineers are already thinking about the next mission that starts the following morning.
