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Arianespace was founded in 1980 as the world’s first launch services and solutions company.
Company profile
Arianespace was founded in 1980 as the world's first launch Service & Solutions company. Arianespace now has 24 shareholders from 10 European countries (including the French space agency CNES with 34%, EADS with 30%, and European companies participating in the production of Ariane launchers).
Since its creation,
Arianespace has signed over 290 launch contracts with 65 international operators, and has launched nearly two-thirds of the satellites in orbit today.
The company generated sales of 919 million euros in 2007 in its fifth successive profitable year. As of January 1, 2008, Arianespace had 292 employees based at the company's headquarters in Evry (near Paris), the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, where the Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega launch pads are located, and offices in Washington D.C., Tokyo and Singapore.
Operations
Arianespace offers launch Service & Solutions to satellite operators (including private companies and government agencies) from around the world,. These services and solutions are based upon:
- The Ariane 5 heavy lift vehicle, operated from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.
- The Soyuz medium launcher. Currently in operation at Baikonur in Kazakhstan, it will be launched from the Guiana Space Center starting in 2009.
- The Vega light launcher, to be launched from the Guiana Space Center starting in 2009.
Arianespace was also the driving force behind a mutual backup agreement with other companies in the industry, creating an entity called the Launch Services Alliance. This arrangement guarantees that customers' payloads will be launched reliably and on schedule, providing an additional factor in winning new launch contracts.
With its family of launchers and this backup agreement, Arianespace has won nearly half of the world's commercial launch service contracts open to competitive bidding in the last two years. Arianespace now has a very impressive order-book:
- 25 satellites to be launched into geostationary transfer orbit, using Ariane 5 and possibly Soyuz for the smaller spacecraft.
- 10 government launches by Ariane 5, including eight for the ATV cargo vessel that will bring supplies to the International Space Station.
- 8 dedicated Soyuz launches (two from Baikonur, six from the Guiana Space Center).
Management team
The company's shareholders are represented by Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. Françoise Bouzitat is Senior Vice-President, Finance; Philippe Berterottiere is Senior Vice-President, Sales, Marketing and Customer Programs; and Patrick Bonguet is Senior Vice President, Programs.
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