Russia’s long-standing policy that bars commercial launches of foreign military satellites by Russian rockets could sharply limit the competition to launch the Koreasat 5 satellite and Britain’s two Skynet 5 spacecraft, according to U.S. and European industry officials.
The regulation prohibits such launches unless they have been specifically covered by government-to-government agreements. Russia has signed such agreements in the past, covering launches including the German government’s SAR-Lupe radar reconnaissance satellites, which likely will be launched aboard Russian rockets.
Manfred Fuchs, managing director of SAR-Lupe prime contractor OHB System of Bremen, Germany, said getting the Russian government’s endorsement of the SAR-Lupe launches was important to OHB as a way of keeping total program costs down. Russian rockets are generally less expensive than U.S., European or Japanese vehicles.
Similarly, the French-Russian Starsem joint-venture company, which markets launches aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles, has received Moscow’s blessing and likely will launch a future French Helios optical reconnaissance satellite, according to French government officials. Soyuz rockets will be operated from French territory — Europe’s Guiana Space Center in French Guiana — starting in 2006 under a French-Russian bilateral agreement.
The Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket, which uses Russian-built engines, also has been cleared to launch military spacecraft under an agreement between the U.S. and Russian governments. The Atlas 5 was developed for the U.S. Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. But the Koreasat 5 and Skynet 5 programs represent a relatively new market phenomenon in which contracts for the construction and launch of military hardware are opened up to international commercial competitions. In the past, such competitions typically have been restricted to companies from the nation whose military will use the satellite.
The Koreasat 5 satellite, under construction at Alcatel Space of Paris, is co-owned by KT Corp. of Seoul, South Korea, and the Korean defense forces. Plans call for launching the satellite commercially, and the owners are counting on a spirited international competition to bring the price down as low as possible.
The same is true for EADS Space, whose Paradigm Secure Communications subsidiary is overseeing the construction and launch of the two Skynet 5 satellites as part of a commercially managed program for the British Defence Ministry.
The Russian- and Ukrainian-built Sea Launch vehicle, managed by Boeing Co.’s Sea Launch LLC of Long Beach, Calif., and the Russian-built Proton rocket, marketed by International Launch Services (ILS) of McLean, Va., are viewed as strong contenders for the Koreasat 5 and Skynet 5 launches. Also in the hunt are Europe’s Ariane 5 vehicle, marketed by Arianespace of Evry, France, and the Atlas 5, which is offered commercially by ILS.
Another potential contender is Boeing Launch Services’ Delta 4 rocket, but Boeing has said that today’s commercial launch prices are too low to make it worthwhile to offer the vehicle in most commercial competitions.
EADS Space officials have stressed that they will seek the best launch deal they can get for Skynet 5 and will not favor the Ariane 5, even though the prime contractor for that rocket is another EADS Space division. "Given the structure of our arrangement with the British Ministry of Defence and Paradigm, it is imperative for us to seek the best value for money," said Antoine Bouvier, chief executive of EADS Astrium, which is building the Skynet 5 satellites.
But obtaining the specific Russian government authorization necessary to use either Sea Launch or Proton rockets could be a protracted effort that ends up costing a substantial amount of money, officials said. "A company proposing one vehicle that is less expensive in principle could find its price going up once the cost of winning Russian government approval is added in," said one industry official.
ILS spokeswoman Michelle Lyle declined to discuss the Koreasat 5 or Skynet 5 programs. But she said ILS is working with its Russian partner — Proton builder Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Moscow — and "we are optimistic that this issue will be resolved." Sea Launch spokeswoman Paula Korn said the company is aware that it would need special authorization to launch military hardware. She said Sea Launch is well-versed in Russian regulatory procedures and did not foresee any special difficulties in pursuing all available commercial opportunities. She declined to address specific launch bids.
