The Arianespace Website provides updates on two international activities:
A report from Paris details a press conference and symposium that marked 25 years of Ariane flights in support of the Indian space program. The symposium was timed to mark the first mission for India; an Ariane 1 launch on June 19, 1981, which orbited the country’s Apple experimental satellite. This milestone flight was the world’s first dual launch into geostationary transfer orbit.
Also on the Arianespace Website is an update on preparations for the upcoming MetOp 1 flight on a Soyuz 2-1a vehicle from Baikonur, which will be performed by Arianespace’s Starsem affiliate in July. Soyuz 2-1a is the upgraded version of Russia’s workhorse launcher, and it be used beginning in 2008 for Soyuz missions performed from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana under Arianespace management.
For more details, visit the Arianespace Website at: http://www.arianespace.com