An Ariane 5 for Europe, the United States and Japan

Kourou, December 19, 2000 Arianespace Flight 138 tonight placed two communications satellites into orbit: Astra 2D for the SociÈtÈ EuropÈenne des Satellites and GE-8/Aurora III for American operator GE Americom. Ariane 5 also deployed the LDREX experimental reflector for the Japanese Space Agency, using the ASAP 5 platform for auxiliary payloads.

The renewed success of the Ariane 5 – performing the fifth mission since last December ñ confirms the technical and operational maturity of the European launcher. Its availability and flexibility are now recognized by major companies and operators around the world, whether American, European or Japanese.

Astra 2D is the seventh spacecraft orbited by the European launcher for the SociÈtÈ EuropÈenne des Satellites. Today’s launch was performed under a contact between the Luxemburg operator and Boeing Space Systems.

GE-8/Aurora III is the 14th satellite orbited by Ariane for GE Americom, following after the series of G-Star, Spacenet, Satcom and GE spacecraft.

With the launch of LDREX, Arianespace marked its first mission for the Japanese Space Agency, NASDA.

Since August, Arianespace has performed eight launches in less than five months – orbiting 11 communications satellites and four auxiliary payloads. As a result, Arianespace once again demonstrated its capacity to adapt to the needs and the availability of its customers.

With 12 launches in the 12 months of 2000, Arianespace will have had the busiest year of operations during its entire history.

After Flight 138, Arianespace’s backlog stands at 45 launch service contracts (36 satellites and 9 ATV missions).

Arianespace is preparing to launch Flight 137 (an Ariane 44P) in the first half of January.