Feature story
Arianespace will apply its Service & Solutions capabilities to meet market needs in 2009 and beyond
January 6, 2009
Arianespace will build on the successes achieved in 2008 with the expansion of its launch vehicle family and a continuation of the company’s unmatched operational flexibility this year, providing the tools needed to meet changing conditions in the commercial marketplace.
These were the key messages of Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall at Arianespace’s traditional New Year's press conference in Paris today, where he outlined the company’s goals for 2009 and reviewed the trends of a constantly-evolving launch services industry.
Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall answers radio reporters’ questions on launch market trends after the Arianespace New Year's press conference in Paris. |
Speaking to international reporters, Le Gall said 2009 will be the “year of the launcher family” for Arianespace, with six to eight missions planned for the heavy-lift Ariane 5 during the coming 12 months, the maiden launch from French Guiana for its medium-lift Soyuz vehicle, and a wrap-up of development for the lightweight Vega – which will allow this new launcher to enter commercial service in 2010.
“As a result of our launcher family strategy, Arianespace has a sustained agility that allows us to be ever more responsive to our customers,” Le Gall told the journalists. “The agility has been demonstrated with our 28 consecutive mission successes for Ariane 5 and the 21 for Soyuz – and is underscored by launches that are on target, and on time.”
By applying this proven agility, Arianespace was able to maintain its mission pace in 2008 – with company flight operations accounting for 50 percent of all commercial launches to geostationary transfer orbit during the year. Arianespace also retained its strong market share – which represented 72 percent of the orders booked in 2008.
Le Gall said Arianespace will continue its leadership role even as market conditions change due to the global financial crisis and other factors. The impact of these elements on the launch services sector includes a slowing of overall order volume, a downward trend in the size and weight of payloads to be orbited, and the freezing of certain satellite programs by new or start-up operators.
A full range of payload lift capabilities with the launcher family
The Arianespace launcher family’s competitiveness and its varied payload lift capacities will allow the company to meet changing trends in satellite weights – with Vega, Soyuz and Ariane 5 capable of orbiting everything from lighter-weight scientific and constellation spacecraft to the heaviest of telecommunications relay platforms.
“Out of the 13 launch contracts signed in 2008 by Arianespace, seven were for satellites in the weight category of three tons or less; the ‘heavy’ spacecraft were primarily in the range of 4 to 5.5 metric tons; with only a few in the 6-ton range,” Le Gall explained. “This represents a marked change in the strategy of both telecommunications operators and spacecraft manufacturers as they move toward less heavy satellites.”
Arianespace won a large majority of all contracts competed during 2008 – a year which saw the continued downturn of annual order volumes booked with launch service providers worldwide. Of the total 18 signings made during the past 12 months, Arianespace captured its 13-order share; while 2007 saw 25 new launch services contracts signed globally, with Arianespace winning 13 of those.
 Construction and outfitting of the Soyuz launch facility in French Guiana is being completed as preparations move ahead for the medium-lift vehicle’s first flight this year. |
Le Gall described Arianespace’s 2008 order intake as “impressive,” with the company’s record backlog now including 27 satellites for launch to geostationary transfer orbit; plus eight Ariane 5-specific missions (of which six will be with the Automated Transfer Vehicle to service the International Space Station); along with seven specific launches for the Soyuz vehicle.
This business volume does not reflect Arianespace’s selection to orbit the entire satellite constellation for Europe’s Galileo navigation system – which will comprise four in-orbit validation (IOV) spacecraft and 26 full-operational capability (FOC) satellites. Arianespace’s designation as the Galileo launch services provider already is made, but since the final contact remains to be signed, this mission activity has yet to be included in the company’s order book.
Le Gall said Arianespace’s busy Ariane 5 mission manifest for 2009 includes the launch of TerreStar-1 (which is one of the world’s largest commercial communications satellites) as a solo passenger on a dedicated launcher. Another single-customer mission next year will carry the European Space Agency’s Herschel astronomy space telescope and the organization’s Planck cosmic background mapping satellite, with both teamed in dual-payload configuration on another dedicated Ariane 5.
Soyuz missions from the Spaceport are to begin in late 2009
The inaugural Soyuz mission from the Spaceport in late 2009 will kick off a fast-paced schedule for this medium-lift launcher that has eight Arianespace-managed flights planned through the end of 2010. These operations will deploy spacecraft into polar orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, and orbits at the service of constellation satellites. With Arianespace’s flexibility, the missions can be handled either from the Spaceport in French Guiana or Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan – where commercial Soyuz missions have been performed since 1999 under the management of Arianespace’s Starsem affiliate.
Le Gall said he is highly impressed with the professionalism of Russian teams that currently are completing the construction and outfitting of Soyuz’ new launch complex in French Guiana. Approximately 100 Russian personnel are now at the Spaceport, and a new major shipment of launch pad hardware and equipment is arriving in French Guiana this week aboard a sea-going vessel.
Arianespace’s launcher family will be completed with the lightweight Vega, which is expected to begin its commercial service in 2010. Once this lightweight vehicle enters operation, Le Gall foresees a regular need for its payload lift capability, meeting the requirements of smaller scientific, commercial and governmental satellites. “There clearly will be a demand for Vega’s services, especially when the track record of competing launchers in this category is taken into account,” he said. “I foresee a Vega launch rate of about two missions per year once this new-generation vehicle enters operation."
- For additional information, see Arianespace’s press release on its 2008 performance and the 2009 outlook.
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