“Power of Three” strategy is spotlighted at Washington's Satellite 2012 event

March 14, 2012

The new “Power of Three” theme from Starsem parent company Arianespace is making its industry debut at this week’s Satellite 2012 event in Washington, D.C., where the company is underscoring the synergy, availability, reliability and commercial advantages of its full launcher family – while also adding new payloads to its order book.

The “Power of Three” theme was the focus of Arianespace’s exhibit stand at Satellite 2012.

Speaking at Satellite 2012’s Launch Services panel, Jean-Yves Le Gall, who is the Starsem and Arianespace Chairman & CEO, confirmed the launcher family’s mission planning for this year – which will be the company’s busiest ever, with flights of all three vehicles: Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega.

“For 2012, we are planning seven Ariane 5 missions and three medium-lift Soyuz flights from the Spaceport in French Guiana, along with two Soyuz launches at Baikonur Cosmodrome,” he told attendees at the panel session. “And just one month ago, we saw the successful introduction of the Vega light launch vehicle, which was a milestone in the history of spaceflight, and truly remarkable for a maiden launch because of its excellent accuracy in a highly complex flight that orbited nine payloads.”

During the Satellite 2012 Launcher Panel, attendees participated in a real-time poll on questions that included the importance of factors in selecting launch vehicles. Using smartphones to respond, the audience overwhelmingly placed reliability first (with nearly 70 percent of the responses), followed by price (approximately 20 percent), along with schedule, proven technology and performance (with less than 10 percent each).

“This feedback clearly reflects the strategy of Arianespace, as we insist on reliability as the foundation for our launch vehicle family,” Le Gall said. “With 46 consecutive successful launches, Ariane 5 is the world’s most reliable launch vehicle in its class, while Soyuz’ launch record also sets an industry standard, and Vega already has shown its capabilities from the inaugural flight.”