Feature story
“Satellite Executive of the Year” honor is awarded to CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall in Washington, D.C.
February 8, 2006
CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall today was recognized by the satellite industry for his leadership of Arianespace and Starsem in 2005 – a year when the two companies set the pace for the world's commercial launch services sector.
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Le Gall received Via Satellite magazine's "Satellite Executive of the Year" award in a presentation during a gala luncheon at the Satellite 2006 conference and convention in Washington, D.C. The event was attended by 600 satellite industry executives and managers, along with personnel from the U.S. military, international governments and journalists.
"It is a great honor to accept this award, and I want to thank Via Satellite for this recognition on behalf of all the employees at Arianespace and Starsem – who were vital to our companies' achievements in 2005," Le Gall said. "I feel it is especially noteworthy that a launch services group has won this award – which underscores the fundamental importance of assured access to space for all sectors of the community."
Howard E. Chambers, CEO of Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc., provided an opening introduction to today's lunch event, citing Le Gall for his "visionary leadership and business excellence, for which he richly deserved this award." In underscoring Arianespace's importance to the satellite industry, Chambers noted that his own company has used Ariane launchers more than 50 times to loft Boeing spacecraft. "In fact, 60 percent of all Boeing satellites launched during the past 20 years have been orbited by Arianespace," he added.
In accepting the award, Le Gall noted that 2005 was the year that Arianespace returned the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA to operational service and maintained a strong overall mission pace – launching a total of five Ariane 5s and three Soyuz vehicles – which together placed 11 satellites into orbit.
"The missions performed in 2005 confirmed Ariane 5's position as the industry's workhorse heavy-lift launcher, and once again demonstrated the value of its dual-payload capability," Le Gall told the luncheon audience. "With Thaicom 4 (IPSTAR), Ariane 5 orbited the largest dedicated payload in the history of the commercial industry. And with Telkom 2 and Spaceway 2, it carried the heaviest dual manifest payload on a commercial mission."
Soyuz also proved its worth as another cornerstone in Arianespace's family of launchers, perfectly filling the need for a versatile medium-lift vehicle, Le Gall added. In 2005, Starsem's Soyuz launchers carried a commercial telecom payload (Galaxy 14), an interplanetary probe (Venus Express) and the GIOVE-A demonstrator spacecraft for Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system.
Le Gall thanked the personnel at both Arianespace and Starsem for their efforts in 2005. "Both of our companies benefit from the passion of our employees and from the creative energy that comes from the mix of various cultures...European, American and Russian," he said.
In his concluding remarks, Le Gall said he is committed to keeping Arianespace at the forefront of the commercial launch services industry, and 2006 promises to be another good year for both companies.
"Five to six Ariane 5 flights are planned from the Guiana Space Center, with preparations already well underway for our next mission – a heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA mission on February 21 with HOT BIRD 7A and SPAINSAT," he said "Three Starsem Soyuz missions also are targeted during the year, and we will continue our preparations for the 2008 introduction of both Soyuz and the lightweight Vega launcher at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana."
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