Hot Bird 7

Maiden flight of the Ariane 5ECA, the uprated variant built to roughly double the basic Ariane 5's geostationary payload. A leak in the new Vulcain 2 main engine's nozzle cooling circuit let the nozzle overheat and deform, throwing the engine off balance and causing loss of control; the range safety system destroyed the vehicle. The failure grounded Ariane 5 for over a year.