Future Market for Space Transportation EUTELSAT’s Perspectives

Abstract

The space transportation market is close to a “redistribution of cards”. All the major players are developing new heavy launch vehicles to meet the demand for larger satellites and to reduce the cost per kilogram launched. Larger, but not more numerous, GEO satellites will be launched in the future, whereas LEO constellations will not be the “eldorado” which was supposed to provide significant growth of the launch business. Therefore, it is likely that not all new launch vehicle developments will survive the competition. The winners will first be selected for their demonstrated reliability and performance, then for their price attractiveness and then for the quality of their services.

As a major operator, EUTELSAT will continue to launch satellites at a rate of more than one per year over the next decade. Apart from the major criteria mentioned above (reliability and cost), EUTELSAT will pay particular attention to the flexibility that it can be offered in terms of launch schedule and re-launch capabilities.