The highest speed ever achieved by Ariane was 10,410m/s, or 37,476kph, for injection of the Rosetta probe into an interplanetary trajectory on Flight 158 (Ariane 5 G ). At this speed, Paris is only nine minutes and 22 seconds from New York!

The highest target apogee (excluding interplanetary flight) was 1,193,622km (three times the distance from the Earth to the moon) for the Herschel and Planck observatory launch on Flight 188 (Ariane 5 ECA). Injection speed was 9,968m/s, or 35,885kph. In fact, this apogee was never achieved as the two satellites entered the influence of the Sun–Earth Lagrangian point L2 before reaching apogee.

Not counting the sub-orbital trajectory of the ARD (Atmospheric Re-entry Demonstrator), the lowest perigee recorded was 180km, about the distance from London to Birmingham, on Flight 137 (record in-orbit delivery for the last Ariane 44P).

The highest perigee – 1,322km; the distance from Brussels to Barcelona – was achieved on Flight 52 (Ariane 4), on injection of the Franco–American Topex radar altimeter satellites into orbit.