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Makes sense, after all they picked the F9 to launch the James Webb. Oh wait...
by moffkalast 4y ago
Makes sense, after all they picked the F9 to launch the James Webb. Oh wait...
- nordsieck 4y ago> Makes sense, after all they picked the F9 to launch the James Webb. Oh wait... A big part of the reason the JWST flew on Ariane 5 is because it was started in 2003 - long before the first flight of Falcon 9.
- allenrb 4y agoA decision which was announced in December of 2015 per https://www.arianespace.com/press-release/esa-and-arianespace-ink-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst-launch-contract/ https://www.arianespace.com/press-release/esa-and-arianespac... Of course, not much has changed since then…
- panick21_ 4y agoLaunching James Webb was part of the European part of helping with financing James Webb. And of course they picked their own rocket to do so. Ariane 5 was not picked because its the most reliable. Ariane 5, Delta IV and Atlas 5 all had the necessary certification to launch James Webb. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy also have this level of certification, but of course they got it after James Webb was already assigned. Your comment is just a fundamental misunderstanding of how launch vehicle selection works and how NASA certification levels work. Please stop with these uninformed comments.