France in Space #228

** 1: EADS STRENGHTENS ITS LEADERSHIP IN SPACE TECHNOLOGIES

EADS (European Aeronautic Defense & Space Company) has taken full control of
Astrium, the satellite manufacturer, assuming the role of gathering European
industry. BAE Systems will be transferring its shares to EADS at no cost. In
exchange, BAE will no longer be responsible for Astrium’s debts. EADS is
planning to reinvest 168 million euros in Astrium. At the same time, EADS
will be taking over Paradigm Secure Communications, a subsidiary of both
groups, created to provide services to Skynet 5 British military
communication satellite. This operation is a key stage for EADS and should
provide a new base from which to launch the space operations of the European
giant.
[L’Usine Nouvelle 02/06/2003]

** 2: YANNICK D’ESCATHA APPOINTED NEW CNES PRESIDENT

Wednesday 19 February, the French council of ministers, on the
recommendation of the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Research and
New Technologies, appointed Yannick d’Escatha as President of the Centre
National d’Etudes Spatiales (French Space Agency – CNES). In a statement to
all employees, the newly appointed President said: “I know that CNES is
going through a serious crisis and that the space sector is struggling. But
the reason I was prepared to leave EDF for CNES is because I believe in
space, in the many benefits it is already bringing in telecommunications,
television, GPS, Earth observation, oceanography, weather forecasting, the
environment, science, security and defence, industry and services, and in
the huge potential waiting to be tapped; because I believe that the conquest
of space is an important challenge for the future of all humankind; and
because I believe in CNES and in its future.”
[CNES Press Release 02/19/03]

** 3: ARIANESPACE REORGANIZATION REQUIRED

Despite the successful last Ariane 4 116th launch, Arianespace, which is
marketing the European launchers needs to resolve some problems. President
Jean-Yves Le Gall recently announced the company will be downsizing by the
end of the year, the reason being the six launches planned in 2002 rather
than the 12 previously launched in 2002. According to Le Gall, despite the
current difficulties Arianespace has not lost any clients, the European
company is after all the only space transportation organization in the world
that offers a regular service. The downsizing will involve several hundred
job losses. The end of Ariane 4 launches will also affect the Guyana Space
Center (CSG), which plans on cutting 400 positions. In the same time,
following the Ariane 5 ECA December failure, Snecma (French Propulsion
Company) may take over the manufacture of the defective parts, previously
made in Sweden.
[AFP Press Release 02/11/2003, Les Echos 02/12/2003, La lettre de
l’Expansion 02/10/2003]

** 4: NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN EUROPE AND RUSSIA

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mr Igor
Sergeevich Ivanov, and the Director General of the European Space Agency, Mr
Antonio Rodotà, signed the Agreement between ESA and the Government of the
Russian Federation on Cooperation and Partnership in the Exploration and Use
of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes. ESA and Rosaviakosmos (Russian Space
Agency) are already engaged in fruitful cooperation in a variety of fields,
such as human spaceflight, microgravity research, Earth observation,
satellite navigation and space science. The Agreement signed today will open
new opportunities for cooperation in areas such as launchers, with emphasis
on future launcher technologies and operation of the Russian Soyuz vehicle
from Kourou (French Guiana), and robotic and human planetary exploration.
[ESA Press Release 02/11/2003]

** 5: TOMORROW’S PROPULSION

Thermal solar propulsion was the subject of a conference held on February 3
and 4 at CNES, Paris (French Space Agency). The sun is a promising free
source of energy that is inexhaustible, and non-combustible. It is therefore
the solution of the future as far as spaceship propulsion is concerned. A
spaceship would need to be fitted with one or maybe two large reflectors
(mirrors) which focus the rays at a point where they would become a powerful
heat source (of around 3630°F (2000°C)). The sunrays would heat a liquid
(usually liquid hydrogen) and so generate gases, which ejected at high speed
from an exhaust pipe, would create propulsion. The thrust thus obtained
would not be a sufficient enough force to lift a rocket off the ground, but
it could propel a spacecraft already in orbit.
[AFP Press Release 02/05/2003]

** 6: IN BRIEF

Arianespace will be ordering six Ariane 5 Baseline launchers in addition to
those currently in production to meet the needs of the market and guarantee
continuity of service for its clients. [Air & Cosmos 02/07/2003]
The French defense procurement agency DGA (part of the Ministry of Defense),
Alcatel Space, and Astrium are about to sign a tripartite agreement to
develop a prototype-warning signal in space capable of detecting the launch
of a ballistic missile. [Air & Cosmos du 07/02/2003]
ESA satellite Artemis (which stands for Advanced Relay and Technology
Mission) has finally reached geostationary orbit, some 36 000 km above the
Earth, at 21.5°E. [ESA Press release 01/31/2003]
Alcatel President Serge Tchuruk, discussing the market for commercial
satellites, stated, “We are lurking on the bottom of the pool, and we are
staying there for the moment.” He has no intention of selling his Alcatel
Space satellite construction subsidiary. [Interview in Les Echos 02/10/2003]

[From Air & Cosmos, AFP Press Release, CNES Press Release, ESA Press
Release, La Lettre de l’Expansion, Les Echos, l’Usine Nouvelle]