During CommunicAsia 2012, taking place in Singapore from June 18 to 21, Arianespace reaffirms its position as the benchmark launch service provider for the world's leading satellite manufacturers and operators.

CommunicAsia 2012 is the 22nd edition of this international trade show for communications and information technologies. Held annually in Singapore, it welcomes industry professionals from over 100 countries. At the same time, Arianespace will present its launch Service & Solutions at the CASBAA 2012 Satellite Industry Forum.

Sustained leadership

During this annual get-together of space operators, manufacturers and service providers, Arianespace, the first commercial launch services company, confirmed its global leadership in this market. Since being founded, Arianespace has signed more than 350 launch contracts with 80 different customers. It has carried out 206 Ariane launches, orbiting 301 payloads, including more than half of the commercial satellites now in orbit worldwide, along with 26 Soyuz launches, 24 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan via its Euro-Russian subsidiary Starsem, and two from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and the first launch of the new Vega rocket.

A record backlog of orders

Drawing on a complete range of launch vehicles, with proven reliability and availability, Arianespace wins more than half of the commercial launch contracts open to competitive bidding on the international market every year. This gives it a very healthy backlog of launch orders. Since the beginning of the year, Arianespace has signed three launch contracts for communications satellites and the contract for a dedicated Ariane 5 launch of four satellites in Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system. Arianespace’s backlog now stands at 4.5 billion euros from 28 customers, including 31 satellites to be launched by Ariane 5 into geostationary orbit, six dedicated Ariane 5 missions, 15 Soyuz launches and two launches by the new Vega rocket.

Technical and operational excellence

Arianespace opened a new chapter in the history of space on October 21, 2011, with the first launch of the legendary Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center. On February 13, 2012, Europe’s space industry celebrated the successful first launch of its new light launcher, Vega. Following the latest launch on May 15, Ariane 5 has now logged 48 successful launches in a row, spanning more than nine years without a failure and largely confirming its technical and operational excellence.

With Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega now operating from a single launch site, the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace is the only launch services provider in the world capable of launching all payloads to all orbits. Arianespace is planning five more Ariane 5 launches by the end of the year, and three Soyuz launches (two from the Guiana Space Center and one from Baikonur). The next launch is scheduled for July 5, when an Ariane 5 will orbit the EchoStar XVII and MSG-3 satellites.

Number 1 in the Asia-Pacific

Since being founded, Arianespace has won a total of 54 launch contracts in the Asia-Pacific region. It has already launched 50 satellites in the last 25 years, for an average launch rate of two satellites per year. Arianespace still has four more satellites from this backlog to be launched. Today, Arianespace has a 64% share of the accessible market for geostationary satellites in the Asia-Pacific, making it the uncontested leader in this region – even more than in the rest of the world. Over the years Arianespace has become the benchmark launch service provider for manufacturers and operators in the Asia-Pacific, largely due to a commercial strategy based on local presence, with the opening of offices in Tokyo in 1986 and in Singapore in 1996.