Longer video of ’Ariane 5’ Rocket first launch failure/explosion

People have uploaded shorter copies, but here’s a longer copy of the Ariane 5 rocket’s ill-fated first launch, which ended in explosion back in 1996. Now a quite reliable rocket, the failure was caused by a “software bug“. As it was an unmanned flight, there were no victims, but it was an expensive blunder, destroying the scientific “Cluster“ spacecraft, which luckily managed to get the funding be re-built for a later mission. In this video, you see the engine starting, the countdown announcer, most of the launch, the rocket’s failure, and people watching debris falling from the sky.