The European satellite launcher Arianespace signed an order for 35 top-range Ariane 5 ECA rockets from EADS Astrium Saturday at the Paris Air Show, for an undisclosed sum. The order was signed by Arianespace chief Jean-Yves Le Gall and Francois Auque, head of Astrium, the space arm of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy attending.

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The Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, has selected Arianespace to launch its Insat 4G communications satellite. Three months after Ariane 5 successfully orbited the Insat 4B satellite, Dr. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, today announced that ISRO has selected Arianespace launch Service and Solutions for the Insat 4G satellite. The launch is slated for the end of 2008, using an Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana. Insat 4G will be the 14th ISRO satellite to use the European launcher. Starting with the Apple experimental satellite on Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 13 Indian satellites to date. Insat 4G is designed, assembled and integrated by ISRO. Weighing about 3,200 kg at launch, it has payloads for communications, broadcasting and weather observation. Its primary payload comprises 18 Ku-band transponders and a radio-navigation module. Insat 4G's coverage zone includes the entire Indian sub-continent.


According to industry sources, the order would be worth about 3.5 billion euros (4.7 billion dollars).

"This order for the most powerful Ariane rocket allows for long-term planning and guarantees until 2010 the continual delivery of the launchers," EADS Astrium and Arianespace said in a joint statement.

On Tuesday Arianespace announced that 2006 had been a bumper year in which it successfully launched five Ariane 5 ECAs, placing 10 communications satellites and one technology experiment into orbit.

Le Gall had announced that he planned to order more rockets to meet the company's needs beyond 2009-2010.

earlier related report

ESA and CNES sign assistance contracts for Ariane

On Tuesday last week at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, ESA and the French National Space Agency (Centre National d'Études Spatiales - CNES) signed two contracts covering the provision of assistance to ESA by CNES for parts of the Ariane launcher programme.

The new organisation of the European launcher sector, decided at the ESA Ministerial Conference in 2003, implied changes for the Ariane Programme in both the industrial and institutional areas.

For the industrial part of the programme, Astrium Space Transportation became the sole Prime Contractor for both development and production of Ariane launch vehicles.

The institutional part of the programme changed with the introduction of direct ESA management of all new ESA-funded Ariane programmes while making use of the existing knowledge and experience within CNES. Prior to this change, ESA delegated the management of the Ariane Programme to CNES.

These decisions were further consolidated at the Paris Air Show with the signature of contracts for assistance covering the Ariane Consolidation and Evolution Programme and the Ariane Accompaniment Program. The contracts run until the end of 2010.

The contracts were signed by ESA's Director of Launcher Programmes, Antonio Fabrizi, and Lionel Ravet of the CNES Ariane Development Directorate on behalf of Michel Eymard, CNES Director of Launchers.

The new managerial arrangements are already in place. At the signing, Antonio Fabrizi remarked "We have actually been implementing this new management scheme for the last two years, starting with Slice 10 of the Ariane Development Programme, without any serious teething problems."

earlier related report

Building on success: Arianespace consolidates its launch services leadership

Arianespace has further consolidated its commercial launch services leadership by announcing five more contracts and ordering new Ariane 5 and Soyuz launchers during the Paris Air Show, which is being held this week at Le Bourget Airport.

With these major developments, Arianespace will be able to continue meeting its customers' evolving requirements with a growing launch vehicle family and high-quality service.

During the Paris Air Show, Arianespace announced the largest contract ever for the European space industry - a multi-launch framework agreement with SES covering missions over a five-year period, along with orders for Arabsat 5 (the Arab League), Thor 6 (Norway), Rascom 1 (Africa) and Insat 4G (India). With this new business, Arianespace's backlog is now equal to a workload exceeding three years - with 44 satellites to be launched.

Also at Le Bourget, Arianespace signed a preliminary order concerning the production of 35 Ariane 5 launchers and it inked a contract with the Russian space industry for acquisition of first four Soyuz rockets to be launched from Guiana Space Center. The new Ariane 5 agreement was concluded in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, while the signing ceremony for the Soyuz involved top Russian government and industry officials, led by Anatoly Perminov, Managing Director of the Russian Space Agency.