The annual Satellite event is one of the telecommunications sector's key industry gatherings, and this year's conference was marked by open debates on the launch service industry's outlook - with questions raised about space-lift capacity, pricing and new market entrants.

Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said Arianespace is confident about the future, with the company's key customers already responding to the global financial crisis by imposing strict financial discipline to ensure steady cash flow over the long term.

"We see these telecommunications operators are continuing to buy new satellites to replace their aging ones," Le Gall explained during Satellite 2009's launch services discussion panel. "Some of their satellites probably will be aller in size, but nevertheless, the telecom providers are indeed making investments to continue their operations - and even to expand their fleets somewhat."

Le Gall noted that so far in 2009, Arianespace already has signed Service and Solutions launch contracts for five new payloads. "These contracts are for clients that serve Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia," he said. "I think it is a real signal that our industry is on a solid footing."

Addressing the increasingly contentious issue of pricing - as certain telecommunications industry executives encourage the entry of new players with promises of lower-cost launch services - Le Gall repeated Arianespace's position that "quality has its price."

He pointed out that when a previous round of price cuts was implemented by launch service providers other than Arianespace, several of them experienced mission failures with the loss of commercial telecommunications satellite payloads.

"There are certain customers who seem to be intent on looking for cheaper launch service players, even newcomers such as China," Le Gall said. "There is a question on the real value of such policies, especially when the satellite operators themselves are earning quite a lot of money. From Arianespace's point of view, the readiness to launch, and our flight-proven solutions, remain the keys to success."

Looking at capacity, Le Gall said Arianespace is ready to meet the market's needs with Ariane 5, as well as the upcoming introduction of Soyuz and Vega at the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Ariane 5's annual flight rate of six to eight missions provides the capacity for 10-12 telecommunications satellites, in addition to a number of scientific, government and other non-telecom payloads "Looking at the 13 payloads we booked last year, our heavy-lift Ariane 5 is clearly compliant with the general market demand," Le Gall added.

In addition, Arianespace's capacity will be bolstered by the service entry of its medium-lift Soyuz, which is scheduled to make the first flight from French Guiana later this year.

"Soyuz provides additional flexibility in our launch system, as we want to have a number of aller-sized satellites that can be matched up with large spacecraft for Ariane 5 dual-payload launches," Le Gall explained.

"With the side-by-side operation of both Ariane 5 and Soyuz, we always will have a means to launch the aller spacecraft."

The addition of Vega provides a lightweight launch vehicle that is tailored for the growing number of all scientific spacecraft and other lighter-weight payloads under development or planned worldwide.

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