[Satnews] On October 9, 2015, Arianespace signed extensions to its ground service contracts covering the operation of the three launch complexes at the Guiana Space Center, for the Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega launchers.

These agreements will extend by three years, through the end of 2019, the contracts that first took effect on January 1, 2012. These new agreements concern the maintenance and operation of ground facilities. They are part of an initiative by the European launcher industry, under the impetus of Arianespace, to meet the objectives in the competitiveness plan launched in early 2014.Through these agreements, the industry has further improved its competitiveness, with estimated savings of about 10% on services for ground facilities. Improvements mainly concern two areas:

• Growth in launch operations, already observed in the last two years, with an annual average target of six Ariane 5 launches, plus three by Soyuz and three by Vega.
• A long-term partnership approach, to capitalize on previous experience and leverage continuous improvement.

By systematically reviewing all specifications, Arianespace was able to ensure maximum technical and organizational efficiency for all services, while maintaining the quality, reliability and availability of ground facilities. These systems play an essential role in ensuring the excellence of Arianespace's launch services.

The companies that signed these contract extensions are:

• GME CEGELEC/APCO
• BUREAU VERITAS
• RMT
• GME APCO/CEGELEC
• GME COFELY ENDEL (with AXIMA/RMT/PEYRANI/SGDE)
• GME  TELESPAZIO/SONOVISION
• VIDELIO
• TELESPAZIO (two separate contracts)
• GIE ESQS
• CLEMESSY
• ACTEMIUM CEGELEC
• PENA
• SODEXO

Executive Comment

Arianespace Chairman and CEO, Stéphane Israël, said, "I am delighted to have taken this major step forward in the deployment of the plan undertaken in early 2014 to improve the operational competitiveness of our launcher family. The ground services performed for Arianespace by European companies at the Guiana Space Center are a key to our operational and economic efficiency. I would especially like to salute the efforts made by everybody involved in these operations, concerning both the technical aspects, as proven by the unrivaled reliability and availability of our launch systems, and the financial aspects, as reflected in these new commitments."