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Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 17, 2006 Arianespace has signed seven launch contracts so far in 2006, only two fewer than in all of 2005, the company said in a statement Tuesday. As of May 16, the company's order book stood at 41 satellites to be launched by Arianespace, plus 5 launches by its Russian partner, Starsem, amounting to the largest order backlog currently in the launch services industry. Since its establishment in March 1980, Arianespace has signed a total of 274 launch contracts. Last year, the company launched five Ariane 5 rockets from the Guyana Space Center, while Starsem launched three Soyuz rockets from the Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The launches placed 11 satellites totaling over 36 metric tons of payloads into orbit. Last March, an Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift vehicle orbited the Hot Bird 7A and Spainsat satellites, the third successful mission in a row. The company plans the following launches in the coming weeks: - An Ariane 5 ECA launch May 26, the second launch of the year, placing the Satmex 6 telecom satellite for Mexico and the Thaicom 5 for Thailand. - A Soyuz launch July 17, constituting Starsem's first launch of the year, placing Eumetsat's Metop 1 satellite into polar orbit. In addition, four more Ariane 5 launches are planned this year from Kourou and two Soyuz launches from Baikonur. Related Links Arianespace
Ariane 5 Mission Takes Next Assembly Step
Washington DC (SPX) May 14, 2006Arianespace announced it has moved the Ariane 5 ECA into the Final Assembly Building at Europe's Spaceport, where it will receive its heavyweight satellite payloads in preparation for a scheduled May 26 liftoff.
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