Risk prevention

During the countdown, the teams may face many problems, from technical failures to unfavourable weather. Well-established procedures then come into play to guide their decision making. In all cases, priority is always given to protecting life and property.

Decision-making when problems arise

As soon as any unexpected event arises (failure, unfavourable weather, accident, delay, problems with the satellite etc.) a board meets to decide what should be done. After the situation has been analysed, the decision is taken in two steps :

Launch authorisation

The Director of CNES/CSG is responsible for authorising the pursuit of the launch procedure. This is because, before considering all technical and commercial considerations, the launch can only be authorised if there is no risk to life and property.

Launch decision

Even when the launch has been authorised, it still remains to be seen whether the launch is technically possible. This is only decided if all technical criteria for the launch vehicle and satellites have the green light. Weather conditions also have to be considered.

Overrides and risk assessment

Each operator reports to his superiors on the state of preparedness or availability of the system for which he is responsible. Two different lights are used to indicate status :

• a green light, meaning that everything is proceeding normally;
• a red light, alerting operators to an anomaly.

Depending on the nature of the problem, the difficulty can either be ignored (it is said to be ‘overrideable’) or it can prevent launch (said to be ‘non-overrideable’). In all cases the teams attempt to correct the anomaly before lift-off, while ensuring that their attempts do not cause extra risk. If it is not possible to correct the anomaly and if an override is possible, the countdown continues. However, it is stopped if the anomaly is found to be ‘non-overrideable’.

The final operations on the launch vehicle and the launch itself are hazardous phases. This requires that contingency plans be prepared to respond to incidents. In the event of a major accident, (such as the explosion of a launch vehicle on the launch pad), the Safety Sub-Director has several tasks :

• to evaluate the damage;
• to activate the emergency plan;
• to determine the best strategy for controlling the situation.

He is the contact for external authorities and coordinates the activity of the Crisis Unit, chaired by the government’s local representative, the Préfet.

The CNES Senior Defence and Security Advisor is in the Jupiter Room to ensure launch security against possible malicious activity.