First Such Switch : Britain to Use Ariane Instead of U.S. Shuttle

Britain has switched the launching of a military satellite from the U.S. space shuttle to the French Ariane rocket, becoming the first shuttle customer to change to Ariane, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The British Skynet 4-B military communications satellite was scheduled to be deployed in space by the shuttle in January, 1987, but the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January put that liftoff in jeopardy.

A Defense Ministry spokeswoman said the switch was made when “we were able to get a firm launch date at the end of ‘87” from Ariane.

Still Booking Shuttle

Another satellite, Skynet 4-A, which was to be launched by the shuttle next month, will remain booked on the shuttle, when it flies again, because it was completed and built to work with shuttle specifications, the spokeswoman said.

The Skynet 4-B was “more easily modified for an Ariane launch,” she said.

After the Challenger disaster, Arianespace, which sells launchings on Ariane, announced that it would make available eight extra launching slots in 1987 and 1988. Flights this year already were fully booked.

The French company said it has had 15 inquiries for the eight slots. Four of the launching slots now have been reserved, three for Japanese satellites and the fourth for the British Skynet 4-B.

3rd Satellite Launching

Britain already had placed an order with Arianespace for the launching of Skynet 4-C, which is still being built and is not expected to be launched until mid-1989.

Meanwhile, the airman training as Britain’s first astronaut will return to military duties because of delays in the U.S. space shuttle program since the Challenger explosion, the Defense Ministry said.

RAF Squadron Leader Nigel Wood was to have flown on a shuttle flight next month and launch a communications satellite from the NASA spacecraft.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s three remaining shuttles have been grounded since the Jan. 28 explosion that destroyed Challenger and killed its crew of seven.

Other British Astronauts

Four other British astronauts who were in training are also going back to their regular jobs for the time being.

“They are returning to military duties since we do not have a firm date for the shuttle launch and the astronauts do not embark on specific mission integration training--how to live aboard the shuttle--until about four or five months before shuttle launch,” the Defense Ministry spokeswoman said.

Wood flew to the United States for the final stages of his shuttle training just days after the Challenger disaster but returned to Britain at Easter.