Feature story
Arianespace underscores its industry leadership role at the World Summit for Satellite Financing in Paris
September 5, 2007
Arianespace’s participation at an international satellite industry gathering in Paris was highlighted by its announcement of a major new Service & Solutions contract, and the message that launch providers must respect their commitments to customers as the telecommunications industry continues to rebound.
Globalstar Chairman & CEO Jay Monroe (left) shakes hands with Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace Chairman & CEO, after signing the launch agreement for Globalstar’s second-generation satellite constellation.
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Globalstar Chairman & CEO Jay Monroe (left) shakes hands with Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace Chairman & CEO, after signing the launch agreement for Globalstar’s second-generation satellite constellation. |
The company’s new contract, revealed by Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall at a journalists’ breakfast briefing at the 11th World Summit for Satellite Financing, is for the orbiting of all satellites in Globalstar’s second-generation constellation.
A total of 24 payloads will be lofted by four Soyuz launchers beginning in 2009, carrying clusters of six spacecraft on each mission flown from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. In addition, options also were placed with Arianespace for four more Soyuz flights that will enable Globalstar to add a second batch of 24 satellites to its constellation.
“In our discussions with Globalstar, we stressed the importance of choosing a proven launcher, and using the same vehicle for all satellites in their second-generation constellation,” Le Gall told reporters. “This will ensure highly reliable launch service, as well as enabling the same payload configuration to be utilized on every flight.”
With Soyuz’ increasing importance within the Arianespace launcher family, Le Gall said the company plans to acquire more of the Russian-built vehicles for operation from Europe’s Spaceport. These will be in addition to the initial four Soyuz launchers ordered in June.
“We’ve dreamed about Soyuz at French Guiana…and it is now a reality,” Le Gall said. “With our new business from Globalstar, we can ramp up the mission rate right from Soyuz’ introduction at the Spaceport in March 2009.”
The current manifest of Soyuz flights from French Guiana already include two missions booked for France’s Pleiades Earth observation satellites. In addition, several smaller-sized telecom satellites currently in Arianespace’s order book can be flown either on Soyuz or Ariane 5 as the result of the company’s launcher family flexibility.
In other business matters, Le Gall reiterated Arianespace’s pledge to continue meeting its contractual commitments to customers, which it will achieve by signing contracts for payloads that the company can orbit when promised.
“We’ve seen one of our competitors literally ‘take the money and run’ by booking new orders, receiving payments, and subsequently advising customers of major launch delays that are not the result of technical issues,” Le Gall said. “This is inadmissible, and it’s something that we clearly do not support. Making promises that cannot be met will only destabilize the satellite telecommunications market – which is now rebounding, and should not be put in peril.”
Le Gall also said the launch services purchasing practices of satellite manufacturers and telecom operators must now evolve to avoid satellite delays and scheduling problems – especially with mission manifests being heavily booked for the next two years and beyond. Customers can no longer wait until the last minute to sign a launch contract if they want to guarantee their spacecraft will be orbited soon after leaving the factory, he added.
“Our recent multiple launch agreement with SES is an example of how a customer can optimize its schedule, while counting on our capability to launch on time – which Arianespace has clearly demonstrated by our performance this year,” Le Gall said.
The cryogenic central stage for Arianespace’s fifth Ariane 5 mission of 2007 is unloaded from the MN Colibri sea-going transport ship at Kourou's Pariacabo port.
Arianespace remains on track to build up its Ariane 5 mission pace, with six dual-payload launches targeted for 2007, followed
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The cryogenic central stage for Arianespace’s fifth Ariane 5 mission of 2007 is unloaded from the MN Colibri sea-going transport ship at Kourou's Pariacabo port. |
by seven flights of the workhorse launcher in 2008. The company will rely on a standardized Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift configuration for the long term, optimizing the vehicle’s flight envelope to further increase payload capacity.
“We did the same with the heaviest-lift version of our predecessor Ariane 4, which began service with a 4.3 metric ton payload capability, and completed its operational life at 5 metric tons,” Le Gall explained. “We expect to do the same for Ariane 5, which currently can orbit a payload mass of 8.7 metric tons in a dual-passenger configuration, or 9.3 metric tons when one large satellite is carried. Our goal is to further improve Ariane 5’s lift capability by several hundred kilos.”
The plans to introduce Soyuz at French Guiana also are on schedule as the Spaceport’s new launch site quickly takes shape. Russian teams responsible for the Soyuz launch facility’s completion are to arrive by year-end, moving the construction project into its final phase.
For the remaining months of 2007, two commercial Soyuz missions are planned by Arianespace’s Starsem affiliate: one carrying four satellites for Globalstar; and the second with Radarsat-2 for Canada. These flights will be performed from the existing Soyuz launch site at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.
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