The principal manufacturer for the Ariane 3 was Aérospatiale, while the lead agency for its development was the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

[5] The Ariane 1 soon became considered to be a capable and competitive launcher in comparison to the rival platforms offered by the Soviet Union and the United States of America.

[6] However, even prior to the launcher having entering service, there was a strong desire to quickly produce improved derivatives that would be able to handle even greater payloads than Ariane 1 could.

[7] While the initiative was first proposed in 1978, prior to the Ariane 1's first flight, approval to commence the first phase of development was not received until July 1979.

The Ariane 3 was designed to satisfy the future demand for the delivery of two tonne payloads into a Geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

[8] The principal agency behind the development of the Ariane 3 was the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), while the lead company for its production was the French aerospace manufacturer Aérospatiale.

[8] However, one new piece of infrastructure that was permitted was the establishment of tracking equipment in the Ivory Coast; the existing infrastructure based in Brazil used by the Ariane 1 was less suitable due to the increased performance of the Ariane 3, which flew a different ascent profile that reached 250 km, rather than 200 km before coasting into orbit.

The first stage was powered by four Viking 2B bipropellant engines, burning UH 25 (25% straight hydrazine, 75% UDMH) in a dinitrogen tetroxide oxidiser.

At the time of the Ariane 3's maiden flight, the United States still held a majority of the global launcher market; by the end of the year, the order books were shifting in favour of the Ariane family, having outstanding orders to launch 30 satellites at a cumulative cost of €1 billion.