ESA może i się trochę przejmuję spacex ale przynajmniej w obecnej chwili nie ma się czym martwić w kwestii zapełnienia grafików:
Arianespace has a full orderbook and lots of confidence in its future
January 7, 2015 2:07 am Eastern | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor [Launch Vehicle Providers]
ArianeSpace cites the company's accomplishments in 2014 and the prospects for 2015 and beyond : Arianespace on track for further success in 2015
The organization is optimistic about its business for the next few years:
A rebalanced order book, and three years of guaranteed business
Arianespace signed 14 launch contracts in 2014:
Ariane 5 ECA and ES: nine geostationary satellites and two launch contracts for Galileo satellites.
Soyuz: two launch contracts, for Sentinel-1B and O3b F3.
Vega: one contract for the OPTSAT 3000 satellite, in a dual launch with the Earth observation satellite Venμs.
Arianespace won nine out of the 18 contracts available in the commercial geostationary satellite market, giving it a 50% share. Furthermore, this performance was even more impressive, given the fact that Arianespace did not compete for several contracts due to of lack of slots in its launch manifest.
In particular, Arianespace won eight small geostationary satellite launch contracts out of the 13 open to competition. This allowed it to rebalance its Ariane 5 order book, confirming Arianespace market forecasts and ensuring the long-term viability of its dual launch strategy.
Current contracts with 29 customers ensure more than three years of launch business for Arianespace, and amount to total revenues over 4.1 billion euros:
22 Ariane 5 launches, including 35 satellites to be launched into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on 18 launches, and four dedicated launches.
Six Soyuz launches.
Nine Vega launches.
Launcher procurement continuity
Arianespace now has a total of 58 launchers on order ensuring for its needs up to 2019, clearly reflecting its confidence in the future: 32 Ariane 5, 13 Soyuz and 13 Vega.
With Ariane 6 and Vega C, the future of Europe's launch industry is now guaranteed, thanks to massive investments by ESA member states.
Approved at ESA's ministerial-level conference in Luxembourg on December 2, Ariane 6 fully matches government requirements in Europe and the needs of the commercial market for the next decade as forecasted by Arianespace and its customers. With a first launch planned as early as 2020, Ariane 6, along with the upgraded Vega C, will ensure independent access to space for Europe, and allow Arianespace to maintain its leadership in the commercial launch market.
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And the head of Arianespace clearly sees no urgent need to pursue innovative ways to outperform SpaceX in pushing down the cost of access to space:
Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël: Arianespace is confident
for the future with its current and next-generation launcher family
Building on its record year of mission operations in 2014 – and supported by European decisions to develop the heavy-lift successor Ariane 6, as well as an enhanced lightweight Vega C vehicle – Arianespace is looking to the future with confidence as a leader in the launch services marketplace.
Speaking to reporters during the company’s traditional New Year’s press conference in Paris this morning, Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël underscored Arianespace’s ability to deliver for its customers in 2014 – which is to continue with an intense 12-month schedule of launches in 2015.
“We are targeting another record year of missions, while continuing our pursuit of commercial activities to further expand the order book,” he said. “This follows a milestone 2014 from the operational point of view, along with the important actions to ensure the future of European launchers.”
Israël noted that Arianespace contributed to preparing the framework for Europe’s decision on Ariane 6 as the successor to its workhorse Ariane 5. This included the company’s market survey that confirmed major trends in satellite payload size and configuration, as well as Arianespace’s role in the Ariane 6 project’s finalization and the consensus that enabled the go-ahead at a European Space Agency ministerial-level meeting.
He added that Ariane 6’s advantages include its competitive launch prices, flexibility in meeting future payload lift requirements, and synergy with Arianespace’s launcher family concept.
A modular Ariane 6 launcher
Referred to as the Ariane 6 modular, this follow-on launcher is envisioned in two configurations: an “institutional” version, incorporating a core stage containing liquid oxygen and hydrogen, along with two solid propellant boosters and an upper stage, offering a five-metric-ton payload lift performance to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO); and a “commercial” version providing 10.5 metric tons of payload lift to GTO, equipped with the core stage, four solid propellant boosters and an upper stage.
Israël explained that five missions are anticipated annually for the “institutional” Ariane 6 with Europe’s engagement, along with the objective of performing six launches per year with the “commercial” configuration. “Ariane 6 underscores the firm commitment of Europe to maintain its space leadership, even in times of pressure on finances,” he added.
The solid propellant boosters to be used on Ariane 6 will be common with Vega C – the evolved version of Arianespace’s current lightweight Vega vehicle. “This provides further synergy with our launcher family concept and the mission operations at French Guiana, while also contributing production synergy,” Israël told reporters.
He said Arianespace and Europe will evaluate the possibility of reusability for Ariane 6, but stated that the potential cost benefits must be weighed against challenges that include reduced performance due to the increased weight of recovery systems, the costs for refurbishment of a reusable stage and its propulsion system, as well as the prospect of effects on launch rate and reliability.
Arianespace’s mission requirements through 2019 are covered by the total 58 launchers on order with European industry, composed of 32 Ariane 5s, 13 Soyuz vehicles and 13 Vegas.
https://www.newspacewatch.com/articles/75268-arianespace-has-a-full-orderbook-and-lots-of-confidence-in-its-future.html
Wątek: Europejski program kosmiczny (Przeczytany 342571 razy)