AIRBUS SAFRAN LAUNCHERS ‘ASL’ AWARDS €8-MILLION CONTRACT FOR ARIANE 6 CONTROL BENCHES TO AN INDUSTRIAL TEAM LED BY GTD

ASL has awarded to a consortium led by GTD, formed by GTD and CLEMESSY (a subsidiary of the Eiffage Group), the contract for the ‘European Control Benches’ for the future ARIANE 6 programThe Ariane 6 programme, approved at the Ministerial Council meeting of the European Space Agency (ESA) on 2 December 2014, aims to reduce the cost of space launch by half compared to Ariane 5 and thus enable Europe to remain number one in the commercial launch services market while responding to the needs of European institutional missions.Following the first main contract signed one month ago with the French Space Agency (CNES) concerning the Ariane 6 Operational control rooms to be installed in Guyana Space Center, the same consortium led by GTD has now closed this project with ASL. This contract covers all the control benches to be deployed in European facilities (Les Mureaux, Bremen and Lampoldshausen).Work under the contract signed today in Paris by ASL VP Catherine Poincheval (center), GTD Chairman & CLEMESSY Responsible Project is scheduled for completion in October 2018, with the first Ariane 6 launch slated for late 2020.The Operational Control Center represents the largest component in the Ariane 6 ground segment. It handles all interface management between the Ariane launcher and ground facilities during manufacturing phases and launch preparation in Launch Pad. It ensures information exchange between on-board equipment and the ground, and controls the launch count-down. The control center is a real-time critical system.The photo of the group including ASL Directors, GTD & CLEMESSY personalities Ariane 6: a rapid overviewThe overarching aim of Ariane 6 is to provide guaranteed access to space for Europe at a competitive price without requiring public sector support for exploitation.The targeted payload performance of Ariane 6 is over 4.5 t for polar/Sun-synchronous orbit missions at 800 km altitude. Ariane 6 can loft a payload mass of 5–10.5 tonnes in equivalent geostationary transfer orbit.Artist's view of the two configurations of Ariane 6 compared with Ariane 5 Ariane 6 industrial Organization ESA has defined the following workshare: Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) is prime contractor and design authority for the launcher and production facilities, meanwhile CNES-DLA will be ‘Maitre d’Ouvrage’ for the site facilities and the launch pad construction at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou.