Arianespace officials today reported sales of $669.2 million, which contributed to a net profit for the year of $11 million. Contributing to the profitable year were the reaffirmation of support for Europe’s launch industry by the European Space Agency member states; the restructuring of Europe’s launch industry, which enabled the readjustment of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle to bring production costs in line with market pricing; increased flexibility for Arianespace customers through the development of the European family of launch vehicles and the establishment of the Launch Services Alliance; and the internal reorganization of Arianespace.

Last year, Arianespace won 8 of 17 launch service contracts that were open to competition. The company also reported a backlog of 33 satellites to be launched, valued at more than $3.6 billion.