The European Commission requested full details from Arianespace...

The European Commission requested full details from Arianespace and the European Space Agency about two satellites that were launched into the wrong orbit. A Soyuz launch vehicle launched the two satellites as part of the Galileo constellation Friday (CD Aug 20 p13). The EC also requested a schedule and plan of action to rectify the problem, it said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1p876RL). The commission said it’s participating in the inquiry board to identify the causes of the problem, “which is expected to present preliminary results in the first half of September.” The inquiry board will start its work Thursday, and submit initial conclusions as early as Sept. 8, Arianespace said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1rvesAE). An anomaly “is thought to have occurred during the flight phase involving the Fregat upper stage, causing the satellites to be injected into a noncompliant orbit,” Arianespace said.