Eight of Ariane's 141 missions have failed since the Ariane program began in 1979.
The top half would use the liquid-fuelled core-stage technology and engine that powers the Ariane 5.
The Ariane 5-ECA (ESC-A) is due to be relieved by the Ariane 5-ECA (ESC-B) in 2006.
Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has established itself as the dominant force in the satellite launch market.
What is more, it was the 200th Ariane flight since the vehicle series was initiated in 1979.
The upgrade - known as Ariane 5ME (Mid-Life Evolution) - would introduce a more powerful upper-stage engine.
Europe's space freighter, Johannes Kepler, has been blasted into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.
Also aboard the Ariane-4 rocket will be the GE-5 satellite that will provide television services to North America.
Europe's Ariane 5 was initially conceived as the launcher that would put a mini-shuttle, called Hermes, in orbit.
Ariane de Bonvoisin, who pitches herself as an expert at helping people handle abrupt change, is busy these days.
Made from carbon fiber, the Vega uses a solid propellant which gives it faster speeds than the Ariane 5.
Kamel Jedidi and Bruce Kogut are professors at Columbia Business School, which hosted the Ariane de Rothschild Fellows program.
Germany argues too that moving first to Ariane 5ME would reduce the cost of implementing the eventual Ariane 6.
The Ariane's core stage, which is prepared in northern France, uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as its propellants.
With his wife, Ariane, a paralegal, he set up Ice Legal in a strip mall in Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
Wednesday's mission was the ninth Ariane rocket launch this year and the 40th consecutive successful launch of an Ariane-4 rocket.
Twenty minutes after liftoff, space officials said the AfriStar satellite weighing 6, 038 pound (2, 739 kg) separated from the Ariane rocket.
This included shaking the instrument to simulate the pounding it will receive during the ascent to orbit on the Ariane.
At the same time, they want to see detailed studies to define the next generation rocket - an Ariane 6.
It was the fourth outing for an Ariane 5 in what has been a difficult year for Europe's heavy-lift rocket.
Nonetheless, Arianespace, the company that operates the Ariane 5, hopes to complete another two missions before the year is out.
Croatia's Blanka Vlasic retained her women's high jump title, Russia's Anna Chicherova and Germany's Ariane Friedrich taking the other medals.
The old Ariane 4 only has two remaining flights scheduled, one of which is due to take place next week.
Kepler weighed just over 20 tonnes at launch, making it the biggest payload ever lifted into the sky by an Ariane.
ATK's boosters are already rated to carry humans into space, and the Ariane 5 was originally conceived as an astronaut launcher.
And the "European Soyuz" should be a fillip for Arianespace, the company set up to market and operate the Ariane rockets.
In 1996, Europe's Ariane-5 rocket was blown up by ground controllers after it veered off course 40 seconds into its maiden flight.
Wednesday's flight will use an Ariane 44L rocket equipped with four liquid strap-on boosters, the most powerful version of the Ariane-4 series.
With the cryostat path adopted, engineers then set about constructing the largest possible helium vessel they could fit inside an Ariane launch rocket.
The mission comes a week after a new generation Ariane-5 rocket was successfully launched from Kourou in its third and final qualification flight.
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