Via Satellite: Do you think the launch services market can sustain a number of players?
Le Gall: The market we see today can sustain several players. Arianespace relishes competition and will always rise to the challenge of competing for launches. In the final analysis, satellite operators will be attracted to the companies with the best track record of delivering satellites on target and on time. You can only establish that record with a legacy of verifiable successes. A new entrant can’t inspire that sort of confidence over night.
Via Satellite: How big a competitive threat do you view launch service alternatives from China and India?
Le Gall: China is effectively banned from launching from launching U.S.-made commercial satellites because of the ITAR regulations. This is a long-term problem for them. They are effectively banned from the core of the market. I don’t see this political situation changing any time soon. China is working at the edges of the commercial market with so-called ITAR-free satellites and their indigenous DFH series of communications satellites, but it is limited to a small customer base.
The larger issue here is that for all the companies present on the commercial market they must sell much more than just launch vehicles. At Arianespace we are selling end-to-end launch service and solutions which provide features and capabilities well beyond the lift capability of the launch vehicle itself. Tailor-made contracts, financing terms, insurance, manifesting, satellite processing capability, the payload environment, mission assurance capability and many other features are all part of any real launch service package. New players on the market do not have this expertise. Even if the market suddenly became open tomorrow, it will take time before they have the same level of skill that companies such as us and our current competitors have developed over the last years.
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