Arianespace Acquires 10 Soyuz Launch Vehicles

[Satellite Today 09-22-08] Arianespace will acquire 10 Soyuz launch vehicles from the Russian Space Agency, Roskosmos, Arianespace said Sept. 22.
    The contract provides for the supply of Soyuz ST launchers (three stages, fairing and Fregat upper stage), along with the preparation and launch operations. It follows a contract signed in June 2007 covering the first four Soyuz rockets to be launched from the Guiana Space Center. The vehicles in the most recent order will be launched from either the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana or Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan beginning in the second half of 2009.
    Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, and Anatoly Perminov, director of Roskosmos, signed the contract Sept. 20 in Sochi, Russia, during a French-Russian governmental seminar,.

Arianespace President Clayton Mowry spoke with Satellite News about the details of how the new rocket order will affect future projections and capacity. Full-length feature stories are available to premium subscribers of Satellite News, the top source of information for satellite industry executives. To get the latest news from inside the industry, subscribe to our premium weekly newsletter at www.satellitetoday.com/VIP