Arianespace is participating at the Satellite 2017 convention in Washington, D.C., from Monday, March 6 to Thursday, March 9, with the company's presence including hosting an exhibit booth and participating in the launch service executives’ roundtable discussion.
Stéphane Israël, Arianespace Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, also will receive the “Satellite Executive of the Year 2016” award.
Building on its new governance structure and the prospects with Ariane 6 and Vega C, Arianespace is tackling 2017 with an objective for the year of 12 launches and an order book worth over 5 billion euros. As a result, Arianespace is well prepared for the future at the service of its customers.
Key meetings at Satellite 2017…
Arianespace’s representatives will be meeting a number of key customers and partners during Satellite 2017 as the company hosts a booth at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (exhibit stand #1009). There will be three major highlights for Arianespace during the show:
- The latest Vega launch (VV09), which will orbit the Sentinel-2B observation satellite for the European Commission within the scope of a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA). The launch is scheduled for Monday, March 6, with liftoff at 8:49 p.m. (local time in Washington, D.C.), from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana (South America). This will be Arianespace’s third launch of 2017, and the first using the light-lift Vega launcher.
- Satellite Executive of the Year 2016 award presented to Stéphane Israël. This top industry award from Via Satellite magazine is a clear recognition of Arianespace’s excellent performance in 2016, from both the operational and business standpoints. The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, March 8 during a lunch that will bring together all key players in the launcher and satellite sectors (12:00 noon, in Ballroom BC).
- Stéphane Israël’s participation in the “Commercial Launch Service Executives” roundtable discussion on Wednesday, March 8 at 4:15 pm, local time (Room 202).
Arianespace bolsters its leadership in commercial space transport
Arianespace carried out 11 launches in 2016, all successful, from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana, orbiting 27 satellites for customers from around the world: 10 telecommunications satellites, seven Earth observation spacecraft, six satellites for Galileo, three nano-satellites and one scientific satellite. The Ariane 5 heavy launcher also set two consecutive records for payload mass into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). These successes reflect the sustained reliability and availability of Arianespace’s family of launchers: Ariane, Soyuz and Vega.
Arianespace won 13 new contracts in 2016, worth a total of 1.1 billion euros. The company’s order book now exceeds 5 billion euros, representing 53 launches (19 Ariane, 26 Soyuz and 8 Vega) for 30 different customers.
Arianespace plans 12 launches in 2017, composed of seven by Ariane 5, three with Vega and two by Soyuz. It has already carried out two launches:
- On January 27, Arianespace launched Hispasat 36W-1 for Hispasat on the first-ever Soyuz mission from the Guiana Space Center to geostationary transfer orbit;
- On February 14, an Ariane 5 orbited SKY Brasil-1 for AT&T/DIRECTV and Telkom 3S for Telkom Indonesia, the latter within the scope of a turnkey contract with Thales Alenia Space. This was the 77th successful mission in a row by Arianespace’s heavy launch vehicle.
With six launches planned between the end of January and the end of April 2017 (three by Ariane 5, two by Soyuz and one by Vega), Arianespace clearly is demonstrating the availability of its launch services.
In a context of increased competition, the European launcher sector is evolving. Following the CNES French space agency’s transfer of its shares in the company last December, Airbus Safran Launchers is now the majority shareholder with a 74 percent stake. The balance of Arianespace’s shares, held by companies in the European launcher industry, remains unchanged. Arianespace continues as a full-fledged company, with a neutral stance in relation to all satellite manufacturers, and as the sole contact for its customers. This new governance structure enables Arianespace and its industrial partners to be more agile in coping with changes in the market, all for the greater benefit of its customers.
Arianespace is already committed to the commercialization of the next-generation of European launchers: Vega C and Ariane 6, whose first flights are planned in 2019 and 2020, respectively. With the strength of these developments and prospects, Arianespace is preparing the future at the service of its customers.
