Launch service provider Arianespace’s CEO Stephane Israel told a French parliamentary committee that he expects launch revenues for 2015 to reach €1.4 billion and an improvement on its 2014 numbers.

Moreover, Arianespace has contracted this year to launch a further €2 billion’s-worth of rockets, and thus taking its overall backlog to more than €5 billion, and maintaining a market share of some 50 per cent.

Nevertheless, Arianespace still faces extremely tough competition from both California-based SpaceX as well as Russia’s Proton rocket systems.  Israel told the committee that it is reducing prices for the lower-weight co-passenger on its Ariane-5 rockets to more aggressively compete with its rivals.

Tough cost-controls have also been introduced rights across the board at Arianespace, and in ground services at its Kourou launch site which combined should lead to a 5-6 per cent cost-reduction for all clients by 2017.

Arianespace is continuing development work on its follow-on rocket launcher, the Ariane-6 model, which is scheduled to make its debut flight in 2020.

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