Latest Press releases

Corporate May 6, 2019

Satellite 2019: Ariane 6 and Vega C are coming! Arianespace places its operational excellence and commercial performance at the service of clients

Arianespace will be participating in the Satellite 2019 conference, taking place May 6-9 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. as it does every year. Following its impressive results in 2018, Arianespace already has signed four new contracts since the beginning of the year and carried out four missions using its Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega launchers.

With the first flights of Vega C and Ariane 6 now just a year away, Arianespace continues to market these new launch vehicles, which already have recorded 10 launch contracts for both institutional and commercial customers. Today’s announcement of the order signed by Arianespace and ArianeGroup for the first 14 Ariane 6-series vehicles is a decisive step closer to the operation of this new launcher.

Highlighting a market vision

Arianespace capitalizes on its current and future launcher family to launch satellites of all sizes into all orbits. During Satellite 2019, Arianespace will showcase its launch services and vision of the market at two roundtables:

  • Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, will participate in the roundtable on the geostationary market, “GSO and Heavy-Lift”, on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at 2:45 p.m. in Room 146;
  • Marino Fragnito, Vice President, Vega Business Unit, will describe Arianespace’s service offering at the roundtable on small satellites: “NGSO and the New Smallsat Rockets,” on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 9:30 a.m., in Room 146.

Another highlight at the conference is the latest meeting of the Ariane 6 Users’ Club, bringing together customers, satellite manufacturers and partners. Experts from Arianespace and ArianeGroup (prime contractor and design autority for Ariane 6) will review the Ariane 6 program, including its performance specifications and launch solutions, as well as the current program status.

Arianespace also will be welcoming customers and partners throughout the conference at Booth #401 (Hall B and C), alongside ArianeGroup.

Business performance that benefits from Arianespace’s current and future launcher family…

Arianespace posted remarkable business results in 2018, winning 18 contracts from 15 different customers. The company also reaffirmed its leadership in the geostationary communications satellite segment, as eight satellites in these new contracts will be delivered to geostationary orbit (five for Eutelsat, two for ISRO and one for B-SAT, using both Ariane 5 and Ariane 6). Vega, Vega C and Soyuz also won new customers for satellites to be placed into low- and medium-Earth orbit.

This positive trend is continuing in 2019 with four contracts already signed by Arianespace: with OneWeb for more than 30 satellites to be launched on the initial Ariane 62 mission as early as 2020; with the Japanese startup Synspective to orbit the demonstration satellite for their constellation on a Vega rocket in 2020; and with Open Cosmos and Tyvak to launch two auxiliary payloads on Soyuz in 2019.

Arianespace’s backlog of launch orders in early May stood at 51 launches for 36 customers:

  • 18 Ariane (12 Ariane 5, 4 Ariane 62 and 2 Ariane 64)
  • 24 Soyuz
  • 9 Vega/Vega C.

…an equally strong operational performance

Arianespace performed 11 launches in 2018 from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana, placing 21 satellites into orbit. It has already performed four missions so far this year, all successful, from early February to early April, using Ariane 5 (February 5), Soyuz (March 19 and April 4) and Vega (March 22). Having carried out nine launches in less than six months – from October 19, 2018 to April 4, 2019 – Arianespace continues to prove, day in and day out, its launcher family’s high availability and perfect suitability for all types of missions.

Gearing up for the first Ariane 6 and Vega C launches in 2020

The new generation of European launchers was designed to meet the satellite market’s evolving requirements. Ariane 6 and Vega C will enable Arianespace to reach all orbits for satellites of all sizes, including constellations and smallsats, thanks to multiple launch systems (SSMS for Vega/Vega C and MLS for Ariane 6). The first flights of Europe’s two new launchers will take place as early as 2020, kicking off the transition period from Ariane 5 to Ariane 6 and from Vega to Vega C, spanning the 2021-2023 timeframe.

The heritage of reliability and enhanced competitiveness offered by Ariane 6 and Vega C already have won over institutional and commercial customers. Arianespace has signed contracts for 10 launches to date: six for Ariane 6 and four for Vega C.

With order signing announced today by Arianespace and ArianeGroup for the initial 14 Ariane 6-series launchers – which are intended for flights from 2021 to 2023 – a decisive course towards the operation of this new launcher has now been set at the service of Arianespace customers.

About Arianespace

Arianespace uses space to make life better on Earth by providing launch services for all types of satellites into all orbits. It has orbited more than 600 satellites since 1980, using its family of three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, from launch sites in French Guiana (South America) and Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, near Paris, and has a technical facility at the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore. Arianespace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, which holds 74% of its share capital, with the balance held by 15 other shareholders from the European launcher industry.

SATELLITE 2019 : ARIANE 6 ET VEGA C ARRIVENT : ARIANESPACE MET SON EXCELLENCE OPERATIONNELLE ET SA PERFORMANCE COMMERCIALE AU SERVICE DE SES CLIENTS
PDF / 527 KB
Corporate April 18, 2019

Arianespace to launch “SAR” satellite StriX-α aboard Vega for Japanese startup company Synspective

Read more