|
|
|
|
|
Arianespace signs two launch contracts with DIRECTV ARIANESPACE NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 9, 2004 Arianespace announced Thursday the signing of its sixth and seventh contracts of the year, and fifth and sixth overall with The DIRECTV Group. The first contract will be for the launch of the Spaceway 2 satellite in April 2005. This 6.1 metric ton satellite carries an all Ka-Band payload destined to expand and enhance DIRECTV's direct-to-home (DTH) television service and to provide satellite broadband services across the United States. The second contract is for an un-named direct-to-home satellite. Both payloads will fly the Ariane 5 from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Launch preparation of the Spaceway 2 satellite will be completed in a record-breaking seven months from contract signature to launch. The speed of the campaign demonstrates how only Arianespace can deliver true mission assurance to customers worldwide. "We always appreciate the attention to customer service provided by Arianespace," said Romulo Pontual, Executive VP and CTO, The DIRECTV Group. "We look forward to two more successful Ariane launches." "We are thrilled to be working once again with DIRECTV," said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace. "This contract proves Arianespace's flexibility and innovative solutions meet our customers' changing needs." "The contracts also mark the first use of Arianespace's unique approach of providing "mass in orbit" to its customers," remarked Le Gall, "giving a combined price for the two contracts based on the total mass of the satellites." "Our relationship with DIRECTV began more than a decade ago with the launch of DBS-1. We made history with the record-setting 20 day launch campaign of DIRECTV-4S, and are setting new standards in customer service with these unique contracts," continued Le Gall. "We are proud to have played an important role in the successful development of direct-to-home television in the United States, and look forward to being a part of its bright future." Arianespace is the leading global commercial launch services provider offering a family of vehicles able to launch any mass to any orbit. Created in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company, Arianespace has signed contracts for the launch of more than 250 satellite payloads. Arianespace is a member of the innovative Launch Services Alliance with Boeing Launch Services and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that provides true mission assurance to satellite operators around the globe. DIRECTV is the nation's leading digital multichannel television service provider with more than 13 million customers. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of The DIRECTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV). The DIRECTV Group is a world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment and broadband satellite networks and services. The DIRECTV Group is 34 percent owned by Fox Entertainment Group, which is approximately 82 percent owned by News Corporation Ltd. |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Workers recover the Genesis solar wind samples from the impact crater and take the equipment into a facility for examination. (2min 08sec file)
Martin Wilson, manager of the Thermal Protection System Facility, gives a tour of the highly damaged building at Kennedy Space Center in the wake of Hurricane Frances. (2min 31sec file)
Go inside Kennedy Space Center's hurricane-battered Vehicle Assembly Building and also see the damage to the 52-story tall facility's roof. (2min 51sec file)
Officials hold a post-landing news conference in Utah a couple hours after Genesis returned to Earth on Sept. 8. (40min 52sec file)
Powerful tracking cameras spot the Genesis capsule for the first time a couple hundred thousand feet above Earth, prompting applause in the control centers. But just moments later, that joy turned to heartbreak. (1min 02sec file)
The Genesis sample return capsule tumbles through the sky and impacts the desert floor in Utah after its speed-slowing chute and parafoil failed to deploy for a mid-air recovery by a helicopter. (2min 29sec file)
This slow-motion video shows the Genesis capsule slamming into the ground. (1min 06sec file)
Aerial views show the Genesis capsule half buried in the Utah desert floor after its landing system suffered a failure. (1min 53sec file)
The primary and backup recovery helicopters take off with escort from a Blackhawk in preparation for the mid-air retrieval of Genesis. (1min 01sec file)
Animation shows how the Genesis spacecraft was supposed to return. Expert narration provided by JPL entry, descent and landing expert Rob Manning. (5min 29sec file)
The Kennedy Space Center director and 45th Space Wing commander from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station hold a news conference Tuesday to describe damage from Hurricane Frances. (46min 15sec file)
This movie takes you on a tour of hurricane damage to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, shuttle tile manufacturing facility and press site. (3min 11sec file)