Arianespace
European commercial space transportation company / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider.[2] It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme.[3] The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy-lift Ariane 5 for dual launches to geostationary transfer orbit, the Soyuz-2 as a medium-lift alternative, and the solid-fueled Vega for lighter payloads.[4]
| |
| Type | Launch service provider |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | March 26, 1980; 43 years ago (March 26, 1980) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Services | Rocket Launches |
| Revenue |  €1.433 billion (2015) |
| €4 million (2015) | |
Number of employees | 321[1] |
| Parent | ArianeGroup |
| Website | arianespace.com |
As of May 2021[update], Arianespace had launched more than 850 satellites[5] in 287 launches over 41 years. The first commercial flight managed by the new entity was Spacenet F1 launched on 23 May 1984. Arianespace uses the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana as its main launch site. Through shareholding in Starsem, it can also offer commercial Soyuz launches from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. It has its headquarters in Évry-Courcouronnes, Essonne, France.[6][7]