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.