Arianespace has launched five satellites for Asia-Pacific customers over the past 16 months, with a further five satellites, with four more launch contracts on the horizon.
Since the start of 2017, Arianespace launched satellites for Telkom Indonesia, Korea’s ktsat, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Japan’s B-SAT and a joint satellite for Japan’s Ministry of Defense and SKY Perfect JSAT.
The company also has orders for a further five satellite launches for four customers in the region – SKY Perfect JSAT, ISRO, B-SAT and Korea’s KARI.
At CommunicAsia2018, Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël noted that the company has launched 82 satellites for 17 customers in the Asia-Pacific region since 1981, representing 60% of commercial satellites in the region.
Other customers in the region include Australia’s NBN Co and Optus, Malaysia’s MEASAT, Thailand’s Thaicom and Vietnam’s VNPT.
Arianespace launched 20 satellites in 11 successful launches during 2017, with 12 satellites sent into geostationary orbit.
Meanwhile the development of Arianespace’s future launch vehicles, the Vega C and Ariane 6, is on track. The first flights are planned in late 2019 for Vega C and mid-2020 for Ariane 6.