Arianespace opens office in Singapore
Arianespace opens office in Singapore
SINGAPORE (AFP): European space transport giant Arianespace opened a Southeast Asian representative office here Tuesday to tap the explosive growth in the region's satellite communication needs.
"The decision to open an ASEAN Arianspace office was taken because we consider that space-based telecommunications are a vital element for the continued growth of the region," said chairman and chief executive Charles Bigot.
He told a news conference that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore Thailand and Vietnam -- offers the highest growth potential for satellite launches.
Growth in demand for satellite launches in the region was forecast by Arianespace officials at more than 15 percent a year, outstripping ASEAN economic growth rates of eight to 10 percent. Arianespace, based in France, has two other overseas representative offices, one in Washington and the other in Tokyo.
The company has won more than 50 percent of the world market for commercial satellite launches since it was founded 17 years ago. Its current Ariane 4 launcher is to be gradually replaced over the next few years by the more powerful Ariane 5, now in final development.
Worldwide sales are estimated at 1.3 billion dollars this year, as Arianespace has signed a record 19 contracts and placed 15 satellites into orbit. Its order book now stands at 42 satellite launches worth US$3.4 billion.
Arianespace launched its first Asia-Pacific satellite for Australia in 1984 and has so far won 29 contracts in the region from India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
Some 50-60 satellites are expected to be launched by Asia- Pacific operators over the next eight years, and Arianspace is expanding its capacity to meet demand, Bigot said.
In Southeast Asia, where Arianspace has signed 11 launch contracts, it bagged its first deal in 1991 with Thailand's Shinawatra group. The most recent Southeast Asian contracts were for Laos-Thailand and Singapore-Taiwan projects.
"This area's interest in satellite communications can be easily understood. Satellites can be very quickly implemented and therefore reply to the rapid growth ambitions of southeast Asia," said Richard Bowles, head of the Arianespace ASEAN office.
He said satellites can supply the backbone of a communication infrastructure and eliminate the need for three different systems consisting of a trunk, a local distribution network and television broadcasting.