Feature story
Arianespace's operational motto: “Any mass, any orbit, any time”
September 15, 2004
Arianespace's policy of innovation and reactivity continues to position the company as the launch services industry leader - a reality reflected in its impressive orderbook that remains strong despite the fragile marketplace.
Chief Executive Jean-Yves Le Gall provided the assessment of Arianespace's status during meetings with telecommunications operators, the financial sector, insurers and members of the news media at this month's Space Business Week conference in Paris.
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Arianespace's exhibit at Space Business Week included scale models of the Launch Services Alliance's Sea Launch, Ariane 5 and H-IIA vehicles |
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Le Gall said Arianespace's backlog of payloads awaiting launch now stands at 36, plus five more that are booked with its Starsem affiliate. Two Ariane 5 missions and one Soyuz launch are planned before year-end, with a busy manifest also planned for 2005.
"Arianespace continues to be the preferred provider worldwide - even at a time when the launch services industry is a difficult one, and when the challenging financial conditions have literally changed the rules of the industry," Le Gall said. "The service that clients want today is extremely different than what they expected yesterday, and I am convinced market demands will be different tomorrow."
The strong position of Arianespace results from several factors that Le Gall said contribute to the company's ability to launch "any mass to any orbit, anytime." The first is its launcher family approach that today consists of the Ariane 5 heavy-lift and Soyuz medium-sized vehicles, and which will include the lightweight Vega launcher beginning in 2007.
The Ariane 5 Generic vehicle continues to perform as Arianespace's workhorse launcher, and it will soon be joined by the increased-performance Ariane 5 ECA. Starsem's Soyuz, which currently operates from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will start operations alongside Ariane 5 at the Guiana Space Center in 2007.
Arianespace also was a moving force behind the creation of the Launch Services Alliance - a powerful commercial service offering that combines the strength of three leading launch service providers to ensure on time missions for customers around the world. The Launch Services Alliance provides mission assurance by enabling payloads to be switched if necessary between Ariane 5, the Boeing Sea Launch vehicle and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' H-IIA.
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The Launch Services Alliance's gala reception in Paris was hosted by Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall (left), Sea Launch President and General Manager James G. Maser Sea Launch (middle), and Minoru Kobayashi, General Manager, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. |
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This capability was demonstrated earlier this year with Arianespace's shift of the DIRECTV 7S direct television broadcast satellite from Ariane 5 to the Sea Launch vehicle. DIRECTV 7S originally was to have been orbited by Arianespace at the end of 2003 - which created a scheduling conflict with Ariane 5's Rosetta scientific mission. Using the Launch Services Alliance's flexibility, the DIRECTV 7S was transferred from Ariane 5's manifest to Sea Launch, and the spacecraft was lofted successfully on May 4.
Arianespace's ongoing commitment to the Launch Services Alliance was underscored during the Space Business Week conference in Paris in two high-profile ways: the Arianespace exhibit stand at the conference displayed the Ariane 5, Sea Launch and H-IIA vehicles side-by-side for the first time; and the company organized a gala reception on behalf of the Alliance in Paris, which was attended by representatives of approximately 70 customers.
Le Gall said Arianespace's ability to directly help customers via the Launch Services Alliance was underscored by presentations made at the Space Business Week conference. It was reported that the orbiting of DIRECT 7S by Sea Launch in May enabled DIRECTV to sign up several hundred thousand new U.S. subscribers before the start of this summer's Olympic Games. As a result, DIRECTV generated new revenue and significantly consolidated its position in the U.S. direct television market.
"DIRECTV has recognized Arianespace for the innovation that enabled one of its satellites to be launched on time, and they have come back to Arianespace with orders for two new satellite launches on Ariane 5," Le Gall added.
The two new DIRECTV launches announced for Ariane 5 this month - one for the 6.1-metric ton Spaceway 2 direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast platform, and the second for an unnamed DTH spacecraft - marked the sixth and seventh satellite payloads added this year to Arianespace's orderbooks.
Arianespace also made public the signature of a contract with PanAmSat for the launch of its Galaxy 17 satellite on Ariane 5. Le Gall noted this contract underscores PanAmSat's continued confidence in Arianespace, and added that the order was awarded without a formal call for competitive bid among commercial launch services providers.
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The upcoming Flight 164 will use an Ariane 5 ECA version |
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"As we did with the Launch Services Alliance, Arianespace is committed to continuously develop innovative solutions to meet the market's changing needs," Le Gall said. "The market has increasingly diverse requirements in terms of satellite acquisition and launch scenarios, as well as the size and weight of the spacecraft platforms. We have demonstrated our ability to innovate, and we will continue to come up with solutions that are matched to what the client wants."
With its market success, Arianespace has a busy launch schedule through the end of 2004 and in the year to come. Two Ariane 5 missions currently are being prepared for liftoff before year-end from the Spaceport in French Guiana: Flight 164, which will use an Ariane 5 ECA to orbit XTAR-EUR X-band communications satellite and the multi-purpose Sloshsat/Maqsat B2 test payload combination; and an Ariane 5 Generic vehicle with a French governmental payload.
Also planned before the end of 2005 is a Starsem launch of Soyuz from Baikonur Cosmodrome with PanAmSat's Galaxy 14 spacecraft.
In 2005, Arianespace anticipates performing five or six Ariane 5 launches from the Spaceport using a mix of the Generic and ECA versions, plus 3 Starsem Soyuz missions from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
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