[Satellite News 02-10-11] Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall is ramping up for a busy year in 2011 with plans to launch Soyuz and Vega rockets alongside its Ariane 5 workhorse from French Guiana.
    Ariansespace signed 12 GTO contracts out of a total of 19 in 2010, representing a market share of more than 60 percent. The company is currently preparing to launch a European Space Agency (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) next week. With a total mass of over 20 metric tons, this flight’s payload will be the largest ever orbited by Ariane 5.
    Le Gall spoke with Satellite News about the company’s demanding year ahead and the current dynamics of the launch services market, as well as a major contract to be announced at SATELLITE 2011.

Satellite News: Do you see any slowing down in the number of satellite orders over the next year or so?

Le Gall: In 2011, I have set as an objective to sign at least as many contracts as last year. We’re targeting 12 GTO contracts by the end of 2011. In terms of non-GTO, we signed an enormously important contract last year in terms of Galileo and several other contracts with Soyuz. I don’t expect the same number of contracts in the non-GTO market this year, but I would expect we would still continue at a reasonable pace.
    However, we have already signed our first big contract this year and we will announce this with our customer at SATELLITE 2011. There are also a number of other prospects that we are following very closely and preparing the best possible responses tailor made for each specific customer.

Satellite News: Do you expect that the industry will see a consistent order flow of around 20 satellite launch contracts per year?

Le Gall: We are always very conservative in this market. We think we will see an average of 20-25 launch contracts signed per year over the next few years.

Satellite News:  What regions do you think Arianespace will see a lot of activity this year?

Le Gall: We are very confident in the dynamism of the Middle East and Asia. If you look at 2011, we plan to launch 10 GTO satellites. Of these 10 satellites, six will be for the Middle East and Asia. A big part of our business is already coming from these regions. I am sure this will continue as there is a strong growth expected to come from this part of the world. That is why I am going to CABSAT – to talk not only to existing customers, but also hopefully future customers. We think there are definitely new business opportunities to be discussed there.

Satellite: What are your plans to fully integrate the Soyuz and Vega rockets into your launch service portfolio this year?

Le Gall: Today, we have an objective to perform 12 launches in 2011 including six Ariane 5 launches and we are going to start next week with the launch of the ATV on Feb. 15. This will be a very important milestone, both for the International Space Station (ISS) and for Arianespace. We also plan to have two Soyuz launches from French Guiana. The first one will be in August or September and another one will happen before the end of the year.
    Overall, we plan to have a Vega flight from French Guiana in parallel with three Soyuz launches from Baikonur. So, if everything goes well, we will have 12 launches and this would represent a tremendous record for the company. This year is a very significant year for us. We will not only be providing services for the commercial GTO market, but for the ISS – institutional programs and constellations using our three launch systems.
    The Soyuz is very important to us. First, it will help us support the Ariane 5 because it gives us far more flexible options when it comes to launching smaller satellites. Soyuz is a very good support for Ariane 5. Second, Soyuz will allow us to launch all the non-GTO satellites that we cannot launch on Ariane 5. In the Middle East and Asia, for example, there are a number of projects in Earth Observation and here Soyuz and Vega will be very important. The three launch systems allow Arianespace to provide a launch opportunity for any type of mission.
 

Satellite News: Could you explain the significance of the upcoming ATV launch?

Le Gall: The ATV launch is much more complicated because it has been a very long launch campaign. The ATV arrived in French Guiana more than six months ago. Our team has done a lot of work on the preparation. The ATV will be separated from Ariane 5 more than one hour after lift off. This is quite a complicated mission, because we have two burns and we are going to launch more than 20 tons. Once the ATV is separated, Arianespace has completed its mission, but the ATV is just starting. The ATV will rendezvous at the ISS and will dock automatically using a very sophisticated system.
    For the future, we have other ATVs to launch in the future, including the next one planned for 2012. I think the ISS will continue to operate until 2020 and this will provide Arianespace with continuous opportunities to service it through future ATV missions or perhaps with new transport vehicles. It is clear the performance of the ATV mission is very important and I see it as a key development for our company in support of future international cooperation for the ISS.

Satellite News: Have the dynamics of the launch market changed over the last year with more competitors in the sector? How will increased competition affect your new offerings?

Le Gall: In the non-GTO market, there are two points that are quite important. First, you have the decision of SpaceX to stop the Falcon 1. This was a direct competitor to Vega and this is now removed from the picture. The second factor is the new failure of Rokot. They already had a failure a few years ago and they have now had a new failure that saw the loss of a very important satellite. This creates difficulties for this system and obviously this creates a good future for Vega. The deal SpaceX signed with Iridium is impressive, but at the same time, I see a manifest that is very loaded with Pentagon missions. We will see what happens.
    Our only real competitor in the GTO market is the Proton and they had a failure last year. Proton has a very aggressive manifest this year, but their first commercial GTO mission is now planned for April and we understand they don’t have so many satellites to launch in the first half of this year.