SERVIS-1 Launch Date Confirmed for Rockot

The second launch of Eurockot Launch Services in 2003
has now been scheduled for 8th October from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern
Russia. The SERVIS-1 spacecraft belonging to the Japanese USEF foundation
will be deployed into a sun-synchronous orbit of 1000 km altitude.

The SERVIS-1 (Space Environment Reliability Verification Integrated System)
satellite is being developed by the Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment
Free Flyer (USEF) of Tokyo, Japan under a contract by the New Energy and
Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The objective of the
SERVIS-1 mission is to prove the suitability of commercial off-the-shelf
parts under space conditions.

The launch agreement with USEF is Eurockot`s first contract in Asia and was
concluded through the contribution of Eurockot’s representative in Asia and
Oceania, Mitsui Bussan Aerospace of Tokyo. The SERVIS-1 mission will be the
fourth flight for Eurockot from Plesetsk. In 2002 the GRACE twin satellites
as well as two replacement satelites for the Iridium constellation were
deployed successfully into their orbits.

Recently, on 30th June, Rockot placed eight scientific satellites from
Canada, the US, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Japan into an elliptical and
a sun-synchronous orbit, thereby demonstrating the unique capability of its
Breeze upper stage: to perform multiple re-ignitions and release several
spacecraft successively. Future launches in 2004 comprise ESA`s CRYOSAT and
the Korea Aerospace Research Institute`s KOMPSAT-2 missions. Eurockot Launch
Services GmbH is the joint venture of EADS SPACE Transportation (51%) and
Khrunichev Space Centre (49%) and performs launch services for operators of
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites using the flight-proven Rockot launch
vehicle.