Astrium CEO François Auque
congratulated the Astrium teams based in Guiana, France, Germany, Spain and the
United Kingdom and thanked them for their excellent work: "This new
success confirms once again the excellent design of the Ariane 5 ECA launch
vehicle."
"This launch perfectly
illustrates the wide range of skills that Astrium has to offer and how well our
different divisions complement each other. Astrium
Space Transportation delivered the Ariane 5 launcher right on time to
Arianespace. Astrium Satellites will
be delivering the two satellites—the German Armed Forces' first military
communications satellite and the new telecommunications satellite of the
Spanish operator Hispasat—to their final orbital positions. And when COMSATBw-2
joins COMSATBw-1 in orbit in 2010, Astrium
Services, through its subsidiary MilSat Services, will be responsible for
operating the German communications satellites for a minimum of ten years. This
launch was thus extremely important for all the Astrium teams."
Astrium, a
wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence
space systems and services. In 2008, Astrium had a turnover of €4.3 billion and
more than 15,000 employees in France,
Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain
and the Netherlands.
Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers
and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground
segment and Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS
is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2008,
EADS generated revenues of €43.3 billion and employed a workforce of more
than 118, 000.
Press contacts:
Daniel
Mosely (Astrium UK) Tel.:
+44 (0)1 438 77 8180
Matthieu Duvelleroy (Astrium FR) Tel.:
+33 (0) 1 77 75 80 32
Ralph Heinrich (Astrium GER) Tel.: +49 (0) 89 607 33971
Francisco Lechón (Astrium SP) Tel.:
+34 91 586 37 41
www.astrium.eads.net
