MaqSat 3 & ARD

ARD was the Advanced Reentry Demonstrator, built by ESA. This is developed for experimental purposes to validate re-entry techniques. It was deployed on a suborbital trajectory.

MaqSat 3 (Maquette Satellite 3) was a dummy satellite, which matches the mechanical properties and dynamical characteristics of the originally planned payload, the Eutelsat W2. A condition for the contract with the Munich-based space company Kayser-Threde called for a short delivery period of only three months. On September 1st, the dummy structure with a mass of 2,600 kg and a length of more than 3 m was flown to Kourou, Europe's spaceport. Launch took place on 21 October 1998. Due to the unavailability of the originally planned telecommunications satellite W2, Arianespace opted for the flight of a dummy payload. This third and last test flight of the new carrier Ariane 5 primarily aims at reaching GTO and at taking up commercial business with flight 504 as soon as possible.