10 November 2012 - Ariane 5 has been successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, for the 52nd time in a row, once again confirming the extraordinary reliability of the European launcher developed and built by Astrium, Europe’s leading space technology company.

The required performance for this, the 210th Ariane flight, was 9,215kg in geostationary transfer orbit, including 8,251 kg for the two satellites. The remaining weight was for Astrium’s SYLDA dual launch system and for the integration hardware.

The next Ariane 5 launcher, which will perform the seventh and final launch of the year, is in the process of being integrated at Kourou.

About Astrium

Astrium is the number one company in Europe for space technologies and the third in the world. In 2011, Astrium had a turnover close to €5 billion and 18,000 employees worldwide, mainly in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands.

Astrium is the sole European company that covers the whole range of civil and defence space systems and services.

Its three business units are: Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure; Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment;  Astrium Services for comprehensive fixed and mobile end-to-end solutions covering secure and commercial satcoms and networks, high security and broadcast satellite communications equipment and systems, and bespoke geo-information services, worldwide.

Astrium is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2011, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of € 49.1 billion and employed a workforce of over 133,000.

Press contacts:

Jeremy Close (Astrium UK)                                                       Tel.: +44 (0)1 438 77 3872

Gregory Gavroy (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