France In Space #212

** 1: ARIANE 5 AND HELIOS IIA, MILITARY SATELLITE

On July 25, 2002 in Paris, Gérard Brachet, Director General of CNES (French
Space Agency), and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace
signed the launch service contract of the Helios IIA satellite. Helios IIA
weighs about 4,200 kg at launch and will be put into a sun-synchronous polar
orbit by an Ariane 5 during the second half of 2004, from the Guyana Space
Center, the European Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guyana. Helios IIA is the
first second-generation satellite in the defense/security observation sector
operated by France in collaboration with other European countries. The
French defense procurement agency (DGA), is in charge of the program. CNES
has been appointed system architect and contracting authority for the space
segment.
[Arianespace Press Release, 07/25/2002, AFP, 07/23/2002]

** 2: ASTRIUM WILL BUILD HELLAS-SAT

The Hellas-Sat Consortium has signed with Astrium a contract for the supply
of the first Greek satellite. Due to be launched in the spring of 2003,
Hellas-Sat will provide television and telecommunications services for the
2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Hellas-Sat is a Eurostar E2000+ model equipped
with 30 active FFS transponders operating in Ku-band. Weighing 3,250 kg at
launch, it will be located at 39° and will possess an end-of-life power of
7.6 kW. Two deployable antennas will provide a Pan-European coverage,
including Greece, the Balkans and Eastern Europe, while two steerable beams
will cover South Africa and the Middle East.
[Astrium Press Release, 07/25/2002]

** 3: EADS TO BUILD MISSILE DEFENSE

EADS and Boeing announced on July 23, 2002 during a joint press conference
at the British Farnborough Airshow, the signature of a partnering agreement
in the missile defense program. Boeing, as prime contractor of the program,
and EADS designed a memorandum of understanding. The partnership agreement
has been signed between Boeing Missile Defense Systems and EADS Launch
Vehicles. Boeing signed similar agreements with both the Italian Group,
Alenia Spazio, the aeronautic branch of Finmeccanical, and the British Group
BAE Systems.
[EADS Press Release and AFP, 07/23/2002]

** 4: ATV DEPLOYED ITS SOLAR ARRAYS

The solar arrays of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) were successfully
deployed during tests led in June 2002. Since early December 2001, EADS has
been conducting structural and thermal tests of the STM (Structural and
Thermal Model), ATV’s first test model, at the ESTEC facilities, the
research center of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Netherlands.
Acoustic tests (check of the resistance to the environment generated by
Ariane 5 over launch), and dynamic tests (check of the resistance to
vibrations and shocks cause by the separation of the launch vehicle’s
stages) have also been successfully completed. The next and last milestone
of the test campaign will take place in July and will consist of a major
thermal test intended to qualify the thermal regulation and insulation
system inside the whole vehicle. EADS Launch Vehicles is prime contractor
for ATV development for ESA.
[EADS Press Release, 07/03/2002]

[From Agence France Presse (AFP), Arianespace Press Release, Astrium Press
Release, EADS Press Release]