France in Space Number 210

1: A FRENCH ASTRONAUT BECOMES RESEARCH MINISTER

2: ESA MSG MODULE ABOARD THE ISS

3: A SWEDISH NEW CHAIRMAN FOR THE ESA COUNCIL

4: ARIANESPACE’S FUTURE

5: AMC-13 AND AMC-15 TO BE LAUNCHED BY ARIANE 5

6: NEW ORGANIZATION IN ASTRIUM SATELLITES ACTIVITIES

7: ON ITS 3RD TRY, ENDEAVOUR RETURNED TO EARTH IN CALIFORNIA

8: A EARTH-LIKE WORLD DISCOVERY SEEMS CLOSER AND CLOSER

1: A FRENCH ASTRONAUT BECOMES RESEARCH MINISTER

On June 17, Claudie HaignerŽ, a French astronaut, was appointed Minister
for Research and New Technologies in the new French government. Claudie
Haignere, 45, with an outstanding “cursus honoris”, a medical doctor with a
specialization in rheumatology and a Ph.D. in neuroscience, was selected in
1985 as a candidate astronaut by CNES (French Space Agency). She has played
a prominent role in the development of scientific applications of manned
spaceflight and in fostering scientific relations with Russia. Haignere is
a permanent member at the French Academy of Technology. In 1999, she joined
the European Astronaut Corps of the European Space Agency (ESA). She has
taken part in two space missions with the Russians: “Cassiopee” in august
1996 and “Andromede” in October 2001.
[CNES Press Release and ESA Press Release, 06/18/2002]

2: ESA MSG MODULE ABOARD THE ISS

With a delay of six days due to technical and weather constraints, the US
Space Shuttle, Endeavour, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. (local time). Onboard Endeavour was the
Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) research facility, which was developed
by Astrium’s Space Infrastructure under contract with the European Space
Agency (ESA). The MSG was transferred to the space station and moved to its
location in the US lab module Destiny. After completion of the on-orbit
commissioning phase and official MSG handover to NASA, the research
facility will be available for science investigations as of August this
year. The MSG is a multi-functional research platform in space, having a
usable workvolume of 225 liters. It will allow investigations of fluids,
gases, solid substances and flames in space.

[ESA Press Release, 06/06/2002]

3: A SWEDISH NEW CHAIRMAN FOR THE ESA COUNCIL

Per Tegner, currently Director General of the Swedish National Space Board,
will be the new Chairman of the European Space Agency (ESA) Council for the
next two years. Mr. Tegner was unanimously elected at the 159th meeting of
the ESA Council, held at the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal on June 12
and 13. He will take over for Mr. Alain Bensoussan, CNES’ chairman (French
Space Agency), whose term ends on June 30th, 2002. Per Tegner, 58, holds a
Master in Economics and worked for more than 25 years for the Swedish
Ministry of Industry. In 1998, he was appointed Director General of the
Swedish National Space Board and has been the Head of the Swedish
delegation to ESA ever since.
[ESA Press Release, 06/13/2002]

4: ARIANESPACE’S FUTURE

On June 7, the combined Special and General Meeting of Arianespace
shareholders approved the 2001 financial statement and unanimously
confirmed their determination to ensure the future of the Ariane launch
system and the success of the company. In addition, the Annual General
Meeting approved a change in the company’s bylaws to conform to the May 15,
2001 French law regarding new economic regulations (which moves the
corporate governance structure closer to the U.S./U.K. model). The terms of
the company’s directors were also renewed. The Board of Directors, which
also met on June 7, elected Jean-Marie Luton as Chairman and appointed
Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chief Executive Officer in application of the new
bylaws. Since the beginning of the year, Arianespace has won six of the
seven contracts open to competitive bidding fully demonstrating customers’
continued confidence in the Ariane launch system.
[Arianespace Press Release, 06/07/2002]

5: AMC-13 AND AMC-15 TO BE LAUNCHED BY ARIANE 5

On June 19, Arianespace announced at CommunicaAsia in Singapore the signing
of a launch contract for two SES AMERICOM satellites, AMC-13 and AMC-15.
The two new-generation satellites weighing over 4,000 kilograms at liftoff,
will be launched by an Ariane 5 booster from Kourou, French Guyana. Built
by Alcatel Space on Spacebus 4000 platform, the AMC-13 C-band satellite
will be positioned at 172 degrees East. It will deliver superior
Trans-Pacific and regional services as well as connections to the Americas,
Australia and Asia-Pacific networks. The launch is slated for the second
half of 2003. Based on the A2100 model and being built by Lockheed Martin,
AMC-15 will feature North America’s first operating Ku-band payload along
with 24 Ku-band transponders. It will be positioned at 105 degrees West and
will play an essential role in SES AMERICOM’s new direct-to-home service,
AMERICOM2Home, in the United-States. AMC-15 is slated to be launched in the
second half of 2004.

[Arianespace Press Release, 06/19/2002]

6: NEW ORGANIZATION IN ASTRIUM SATELLITES ACTIVITIES

The new ASTRIUM organization, defined to meet the targets set by ASTRIUM’s
two shareholders, EADS and BAE SYSTEMS, is now established and approved. It
will be operative as of July 1. The new organization has been designed to
better focus on customers satisfaction through better utilization and
coordination of the human and technical resources available in France,
Germany, the UK and Spain ; to restore acceptable levels of operational and
financial performance by achieving cost reduction through greater
industrial integration and by streamlining functions; to secure profitable
new business. With this new organization, CEO, Antoine Bouvier is clearly
responsible for the four satellite Business Divisions (Military
Communications Systems – Telecommunications Satellites – Earth Observation,
Science and Navigation – Equipment et Subsystems), and for the Space
Infrastructure Division, linked to EADS Launch Vehicle through a
cooperation agreement.
[Astrium Press Release, 06/18/2002]

7: ON ITS 3RD TRY, ENDEAVOUR RETURNED TO EARTH IN CALIFORNIA

The space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth on June 19, after a
successful 14-day mission. A landing at Kennedy space Center, Florida, was
waved off after poor weather scuttled opportunities on June 17, 18 and 19.
Instead Endeavour landed at Edward Air Force Base, California, as a backup
landing site. Onboard Endeavour, flying with the STS-111 crew, were
astronauts Daniel Bursh and Carl Walz, and cosmonaut Yuri Onufrienko, who
had spent six and a half months (196 days) in orbit aboard the
international space station (ISS). The three broke NASA’s 188-day space
endurance record. CNES astronaut Phillipe Perrin fully accomplished his
mission on his first shuttle flight, performing a range of difficult tasks
during three extra vehicular activities (EVA) to pursue ISS assembly and
repair its Canadian robotic arm. Perrin thus became the first European to
conduct an EVA from the ISS.
[www.cnes.fr and MSNBC, 06/19/2002]

8: A EARTH-LIKE WORLD DISCOVERY SEEMS CLOSER AND CLOSER

The last five days have witnessed the unprecedented announcement of the
discovery of 25 new planets, both by European and American astronomers.
Didier Queloz and his colleagues at the Observatoire de Genve,
Switzerland, have found a dozen of the new planets. Their discovery
includes the most tantalizing one: a planet that closely resembles Jupiter
in our own Solar System, with a similar mass and orbit. “This reminds us
strongly of our own Solar System”, said Didier Queloz. This discovery
brings astronomers another step closer to detecting an Earth-like world.
Queloz is a member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the European Space
Agency (ESA) for its Darwin planet-search mission.
[ESA Press Release, 06/18/2002]

[From Arianespace Press Release, Astrium Press Release (Astrium), CNES
Press Release, ESA Press Release, MSNBC, www.cnes.fr]