Arainespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall, left, and Roskosmos head Anatoly Perminov seek opportunities to press their competitors
Photo: Valery Melnikov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Roskosmos Finally Gets the ˆ121 Million Contract
// To develop Soyuz complex in French Guiana
Commercial space
Yesterday, the RF Federal Space Agency signed a ˆ121 Million contract with Arianespace in Moscow, according to which the latter will invest this amount into the development of missile-carrier Soyuz-ST, as well as launching and technical complexes for it at the Kourou (French Guiana) cosmodrome. Their construction will take ˆ223 Million more. The first launch of Soyuz-ST is to take place in Kourou in 2008.
Roskosmos head Anatoly Perminov thinks that the document signed yesterday will open the way for practical realization of the Soyuz project in Kourou. The idea was first spoken in 1998 by TsSKB-Progress missile and space center (Samara), which produces missile carriers Soyuz and Molniya. In the future these carriers are supposed to be replaced by new space missile Angara-A3 in Russia. The Khrunichev Space Center (Moscow) has begun to develop it based on the 1995 President’s decree. Samara’s offer was supported by the Russian-European company Starsem (35 percent of its shares owned by EADS, 25 percent by Roskosmos, 25 percent by TsSKB-Progress, 15 percent by Arianespace), which markets Soyuz carriers on the world market. It is important to mention that before 2003 Starsem was headed by Jean-Yves Le Gall, who now heads up Arianespace. The Europeans a planning to use the Soyuz to gain 5-8 percent at the world’s market of commercial launching, and get ahead of their main competitor U.S. Lockheed Martin corporation. If Soyuz is launched from Kourou, located near the equator, they will compete with Protons, launched from Baikonur. And to market Proton, Angara and Atlas on the world market Lockheed Martin together with Khrunichev center created ILS, which so far has been dominating the world market, making more that 50 percent of commercial launches.
However, in spite of the political support of the project by Russia’s and France’ presidents, Soyuz encountered finance problems in Kourou – it was not able to collect the necessary ˆ344 Million in 2003-2005. It must be mentioned that Moscow had from the very beginning refused to share the risks and participate in financing of the project. That is why Paris had to take it upon itself. As result, the France government had to both become the guarantor of ˆ121 Million credit return to BEI, which it had issued to Arianespace to pay for the Russian firms labor, and to pay ˆ129 Million out of ˆ233 Million, needed to build a launching and technical complexes for Soyuz-ST at Kourou cosmodrome. Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Switzerland have promised to invest ˆ55 Million more and the lacking ˆ39 Million were provided by the European Commission.
Kommersant has information that in May 2005 the first means of ˆ121 Million will arrive on the accounts of enterprises, developing Soyuz-ST carrier and Fregat upper stage rocket, as well as launching and technical complexes – TsSKB-Progress (Samara), Lavochkina NPO (Khimki, Moscow Region) and KB of general mechanical engineering (Moscow).
Ivan Safronov
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 12, 2005
|
|
|
