In June 1996, the new Ariane 5 rocket was launched on its maiden flight. It carried a payload of scientific satellites. Ariane 5 was commercially very significant for the European Space Agency as it could carry a much heavier payload than the Ariane 4 series of launchers.
37 seconds into the flight, software in the inertial navigation system shut down causing incorrect signals to be sent to the engines. These swivelled in such a way that uncontrollable stresses were placed on the rocket and it started to break up. Ground controllers initiated self-destruct and the rocket and payload was destroyed.
Use of example: The example illustrates that good software engineering practice (reuse, don't introduce changes unless necessary) can have problems. It also shows (if you get into the report) the organisational complexity of systems development and how organisational issues can lead to systems failure.
Overview of the Ariane 5 failure
My slides presenting an overview of the causes of the system software failure.
The failure of the rocket led to a public enquiry. This is the text of its published report.
An analysis and discussion of the findings of the report.