Arianespace chief executive Jean-Yves Le Gall robustly dismissed scepticism about the prospects for an imminent revival in the commercial space launch market at the show yesterday.
"I am confident that the need for GEO replacements and the emerging demand for satellite broadband communications will lead to an improvement in the market within two to three years," he told a crowded press conference.
"And we are determined to be ready to respond when the time comes. The world depends on a host of geostationary telecommunications satellites to supply services that we all now take for granted. Many of them are now reaching the end of their lives, and I am quite sure they will be replaced because we are not going to give up services that are an everyday part of our lives."
Following three loss-making years, Le Gall believes that the European launch company now has an emerging range of vehicles and the industrial structure it needs to return to profitability in the face of aggressive competition from Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Competitors
The company's commercial offer will soon comprise the Vega light launcher, currently in development, plus today's Soyuz medium vehicle (via Russian/European partner Starsem) and the heavy Ariane 5. Questioned on the need for three different types, Le Gall countered: "Our two main competitors have full ranges, so it would be difficult not to do the same. Moreover, while Ariane 5 is excellent, it is clearly biased towards the heavier end of the market." Once Vega and the heavy Ariane 5 are in place, Arianespace will be able to economically meet customer requirements up to 10t.
Under a new industrial structure recently agreed by the European governments, the European Space Agency (ESA) will lead development activities while Arianespace will be responsible for launch operations, the two being co-ordinated by a single management organisation. "We expect this arrangement to rationalise our production efforts and lead to reduced costs," Le Gall said. "We have a new role now - the commercialisation of our emerging range of launchers under the aegis of ESA."
Trade issues dominated much of the questioning, with the Arianespace chief indicating that European governments are ready to defend the company's pre-eminence in the civil launch market. He reported that the governments had approved a €192 million grant to the company "to put us on a level playing field with our US and Russian competitors."
Source: Flight Daily News
