karn (09/12/82)
ESA has announced that it has determined the cause of the Ariane launch
failure Thursday night. The problem was the third stage fuel pump.
4 minutes and 23 seconds into the third stage burn, the pump
slowed, and the engines lost power within three seconds and then stopped.
ESA says it will delay the next launch, originally scheduled for
November 23, will be delayed "weeks or months" so that the problem can
be fixed.
>From the available information, I estimate the final "orbit" of the
launcher had an apogee of 176 km and a "perigee" of -3,623 km.
Not exactly geostationary.
Phil Karn