In his New Year’s message to the press, Astrium’s CEO François Auque announced the provisional 2011 results for the company.

Astrium once again demonstrated outstanding reliability as industrial prime contractor for the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The five perfectly executed Ariane 5 launch campaigns in 2011 brought the number of consecutive successful launches to 46.

Thirteen satellites built by Astrium were launched in 2011, including the first two Galileo IOV (In-Orbit Validation) satellites and the first satellite of the Pléiades constellation, for which Astrium Services is the civil operator and exclusive distributor of the very high-resolution images.

Major contracts in 2011 included four for telecommunication satellites (Eutelsat 3B and 9B, MEASAT-3b and DIRECTV 15) and two for Earth observation (Sentinel 4 instrument and Sentinel 5 Precursor satellite), the start of the European Data Relay System (EDRS), the future data highway in space, and a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to continue to manage the operation and exploitation of the International Space Station.

External growth played a significant role in 2011. The acquisition of Vizada by Astrium Services has created a new global leader in the market for satellite telecommunication services. Astrium also entered into an agreement pursuant to which it will acquire 66.78% of the Italian company Space Engineering.

The many launches planned for 2012 include the ATV-3 ‘Edoardo Amaldi’, the MetOp B weather satellite, Spot 6, and the three SWARM satellites for ESA’s Earth Explorer programme. Astrium also plans to deliver six Ariane 5 launch vehicles and five telecommunication satellites.

Press release