Arianespace sees bright potential for India in launch vehicle mkt

Bangalore, Feb 8 (UNI) European launcher Arianespace saw a bright future for Indian launch vehicles as the satellite market worldover was picking up.

Arianespace Chief Executive Officer Jean Yves Le Gall told UNI here that the lull period in the satellite market had vanished and the number of spacecraft to be launched annually was between 20 and 25. Given this scenario, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles of the Indian Space Research Organisation had a good future.

Arianespace would partner with the ISRO and in future, these two launch vehicles could be part of Arianespace's programme for launching satellites, Mr Le Gall said.

The demand for satellites was fuelled by the increasing broadband connectivity and high definition TV broadcasting, among other things, he added.

The ISRO had already tied up with Arianespace for launching satellites, but so far no order had come up.

Mr Le Gall said he discussed with ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair about the launch preparation of INSAT 4B communication satellite, to be launched by an Ariane 5 launcher along with a British Spy satellite on March nine (local time) from the European Spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana.

The satellite had reached French Guyana and the Indian space scientists were making final preparations on the satellite, before it was shifted to the launch pad, he added. He also discussed about future programmes.

Arianespace would also launch a British communication satellite W2M, to be built by ISRO under a cooperative arrangement with Astrium.

He said beyond INSAT 4B, Arianespace, which had launched 12 Indian satellites, had no fresh order from the ISRO. Last year, Arianespace had five Ariane 5 launches, putting 10 satellites into orbit. It had a strong order book of 48 satellites that should see it through over the next three years, he added.

UNI