Displaying items by tag: Soyuz rocket

Starsem is a European-Russian company that was created in 1996 to commercialise the Soyuz launch services on the international market. It is Starsem is headquartered in Évry, France (near Paris).

Starsem is dedicated to providing commercial launch services with the reliable and proven Soyuz family of launch vehicles.  The European-Russian organization brings together all key players involved in the production and operation of Soyuz and is responsible for international sales of the world's most versatile launch vehicle.

Starsem offers the Soyuz for a broad range of mission needs, including satellite telecommunications systems, scientific spacecraft, and Earth observation / meteorological platforms.

Starsem provides a turnkey service, from manufacture of the launch vehicle to mission preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome and successful in-orbit delivery of payloads.

As of Nov. 2012, Starsem has performed the following launches :  Mars Express, Venus Express, Golbalstar communication satellites,  METOP the European satellite for meteorology, etc.  On 21 Oct. 2011, the first launch of the Soyuz rocket was made from the Kourou Space Centre, in Gyuanna.

Arianespace was founded in 1980 as the world’s first satellite launch company. Today, it has 21 shareholders from 10 European countries. Since its creation, Arianespace has launched with Ariane launchers 298 payloads, accounting for more than half of the commercial satellites now in service worldwide.

In 2010, the company had revenues of 897 M€. As of 1st July 2011, Arianespace had 332 employees, including 258 at the company’s headquarters in Evry, near Paris, 63 at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, launch site for Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega, and 11 at local offices in Washington DC (United States), Tokyo (Japan) and Singapore.

Arianespace offers launch service & solutions to satellite operators from around the world, including both private companies and government agencies, based on a complete family of launchers:

• Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle, operated at the Guiana Space Center (60 launches, including 46 successful launches in a row),  
• Soyuz medium launcher, which has been operated at Baikonur since 1999 (23 commercial launches, all successful), and which, after the success of the first launch on 21 October 2011, is now being operated at the Guiana Space Center,
• Vega light launcher, which will be operated at the Guiana Space Center starting 2012.

 The technical performance of its launch vehicles and a substantial order book have made Arianespace the world leader in satellite launch services for the last few years (as of 2012), with a market share exceeding 50%.

Soyuz  is a family of expendable launch systems developed by OKB-1, and manufactured by TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia. 

The launch services are commercialised by the company Starsem.

The Soyuz launch vehicle family has provided reliable and efficient launch services since the birth of the space program. Vehicles in this family, which have launched both the first satellite and first man into space, have been credited with more than 1000 launches. Today, this vehicle is used for manned and unmanned flights to the International Space Station and commercial launches.