TUPPER LAKE, NY — The video broadcast of the July 9 inaugural Ariane 6 flight ended after payload separation and speeches by program managers expressing relief at the success.
It was after the main mission ended and the Ariane 6 upper stage prepared to deorbit and release two reentry capsules that a problem occurred. The Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) shut down soon after its second ignition. The APU pressurizes the second stage fuel tanks.
The shutdown left the upper stage, still with its reentry capsules, in a 580 . . .
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