Ariane 44L flight V36 carried Japan's Superbird-B and BS-2X communications satellites, but a cloth rag left in a Viking engine's coolant tube caused an engine failure about 102 seconds after liftoff, destroying the rocket and both payloads.
- Outcome
- Failure
- Orbit
- Direct-GEO
- Geostationary orbit
- Payload to orbit
- Did not reach orbit
- Flight
- 3rd
- of 40 Ariane 44L flights
- Date and time
- 22 February 1990, 23:17 UTC
- Rocket
- Ariane 44L
- Builder
- Aérospatiale
- Launch site
- Ariane Launch Area 2, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
- Payload
- Communications
- Launches in 1990
- 17th of 121