ARIANE-5 was designed to have a reliability rating which translates into maximum of one failure every 70 launches. So confident was the industry in this increased reliability that the commercial space transport company Arianespace, in which two Irish companies are shareholders, actually planned to offer a free relaunch to customers in the event of a failure.

This is a big selling point for the company, which already holds over half the world market for launching satellites. To date it has launched no fewer than 117 satellites in 77 successful launches using Ariane 4 and its predecessors. There have been just seven failures in 16 years.

It is ironic too, that in his new year message to staff, the European Space Agency director general, Jean Marie Luton, said. "As the year 2000 draws nearer, Europe has put its space programme back on track, having" taken fresh bearings and redefined its objectives, taking the opportunity to intensify cooperation among the countries taking part.

Before the conference of European space ministers in Toulouse last October, Mr Luton said, the outlook for a number of programmes had been somewhat insecure, but the ministers were able, after three days discussions, to dispel financial uncertainties and set the scene for the next 10 years.

Yesterday's dramatic events make spectacular headline material. Nevertheless, it is widely accepted in the industry worldwide that the European Space Agency has a better success rate than NASA, and it certainly seems to be doing better than the Chinese agency of late.

It must also be borne in mind that yesterday's launch was a test one, even though it carried four scientific satellites. A second test is planned for September, although it remains to be seen how this timetable will be affected. The plan was that on completion of two successful launches Ariane-5 would then be used for commercial launches.

Private companies usually telecommunications or government agencies use the satellites for their own purposes. Yesterday's events could jeopardise some commercial contracts.

Ireland has a financial stake in the success of Ariane-5, both through its membership of ESA and its direct funding of the Ariane-5 programme. Two Irish companies, Devtec Limited of Dublin and Adtec Teoranta of Co Meath, are shareholders in Arianespace.

In addition, around 15 companies have participated in work for the Ariane-4 and Ariane-5, or have current contracts. It is seen as a valuable source of contracts for Irish niche companies, and involvement is actively encouraged by Forbairt, which sees it as a way to improve research, development and manufacturing skills in Irish industry.

IBEC, too, encourages participation. The Aerospace Industries Association in IBEC represents companies involved in space activities, and works with the larger IBEC sponsored Federation of Aerospace Industries in Ireland.

So there will be some glum faces in the Irish aerospace industry, but perhaps not as glum as might be expected. Industry sources still believe that the Ariane-5 programme will be successful.

The wonder is, not that some launches go wrong, but that so many go right. A launcher is a highly complex piece of equipment, and the launch itself has many stages, all of them fertile breeding grounds for human or mechanical error.

The Ariane-5 engine had the equivalent of 150 test flights on the ground, but it's never the same flying in space. The operators have it down to a fine art in the launching station in Kourou, where the space programme constitutes the major economic activity for a South American country that is still almost completely covered in equatorial jungle, but they were using a new launch pad. And a test launch is just that a test.

Ariane-5, as well as being designed to be more reliable than Ariane-4, was expected to carry a much heavier load and to cost 10 per cent less.

The thrust of the engines during take off is 10 times that of the Concorde jet engine, and one booster is loaded with 10 times the amount stolid propellant used by the largest booster of the type produced in Europe until "now.

The Ariane series was primarily designed to launch telecommunications satellites for geo-stationary orbit, but over the years, market demands have changed and satellites have become increasingly heavy.

Ariane-4, itself a major improvement on Ariane 3, can boost from 4,200 to 10,000 pounds into orbit. The performance specification for Ariane-5 includes a launch capacity of 15,000 lb for a single telecommunications satellite, or 13,000 lb for a dual launch. Telecommunications represents an estimated 90 per cent of the global market, but the launchers also have other applications.

For the launching of space station type loads into low earth orbit the specification is 40,000 lb, and for earth observation satellites into a Sun synchronous, quasi polar orbit, 26,500 lb.

About 6,000 specialists in 100 so European firms have been working over the last decade on Ariane-5. My belief is that the sleeves are already rolled up, and that the programme will forge, ahead, despite the billions of dollars worth of fireworks on display yesterday. {CORRECTION} 96060400018