Re: Ariane 5 Launch Price Revisited


frédéric haessig wrote:
> "Ed Kyle" <edkyle99@xxxxxxxxxxx> a écrit dans le message de news:
> 1136484591.699655.197810@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > We recently discussed the launch price/cost of an Ariane 5 here.
> > The recent Arianespace press release provides some clues
> > about the subject.
> >
> > "http://www.arianespace.com/site/news/releases/presrel06_01_04.html";
> >
> > According to the release, Arianespace earned EU1.05 billion ($1.27
> > billion)
> > in 2005 while performing five Ariane 5 launches - an average of $254
> > million
> > per launch. Arianespace subsidiary Starsem earned EU100 million
> > ($120.95 million) for three Soyuz launches, an average of $40.32
> > million
> > per launch.
> >
> > - Ed Kyle
> >
>
> The earning don't correspond to the lanch prices of the launches performed
> this year. The payment are always on a long term.
>
> Here is a Space News article which confirms that Arianespace is selling
> launchers at 130 Meuro per.
>
> Arianespace Profitable in 2005
>
> By PETER B. de SELDING
>
> Space News Staff Writer
>
> posted: 04 January 2006
>
> 10:35 am ET
>
> PARIS - The Arianespace commercial launch consortium expects to report
> revenues of 1.05
>
> billion euros ($1.24 billion) for 2005 and a profit of "several million
> euros" on the strength of five
>
> successful Ariane 5 rocket launches conducted during the year, Arianespace
> Chief Executive
>
> Jean-Yves Le Gall said Jan. 4. The launches carried a total of eight
> satellites into orbit.
>
> Le Gall said the Starsem S.A. company, an Arianespace affiliate that markets
> Russia's Soyuz
>
> rocket, will report about 100 million euros in sales and a profit of 1
> million euros based on three
>
> launches conducted in 2005.
>
> Arianespace's revenues for 2005 include about 200 million euros in support
> payments made by
>
> European governments to help offset certain fixed costs the Evry,
> France-based company incurs
>
> in launching Ariane 5 vehicles from the Guiana Space Center in French
> Guiana.
>
> The same level of fixed-cost reimbursement is expected to continue through
> 2010 following an
>
> agreement by member governments of the European Space Agency.
>
> Le Gall said Arianespace, which in 2005 conducted two launches of its new
> workhorse vehicle,
>
> the Ariane 5 ECA, and its industrial contractors have agreed to reduce their
> costs in the coming
>
> years so that the Ariane 5 is profitable if each vehicle is sold for 130
> million euros.
>
> In part because the Ariane 5 ECA has only recently become fully operational
> following its two
>
> successes, the company is not yet able to generate a profit by selling
> Ariane 5 vehicles at 130
>
> million euros apiece, even with the European government support program.
>
> But Le Gall said the efficiency and profitability of Ariane 5 production and
> launching will improve
>
> starting this year, when deliveries of a batch of 30 Ariane 5 vehicles
> begin. This order includes
>
> substantial price reductions agreed to by Ariane 5 manufacturers.

I still am not convinced that the EU130M figure is not just the
price of the Ariane 5 hardware purchase only, not including the
additional price of the launch services. Traditionally, the cost
of launch hardware has accounted for about 50% of the total
total launch services cost in the West.

Still, even if I assume that the price is EU130M, the addition of
the EU200M annual subsidy means that each launch in 2005
actually cost in the neighborhood of EU170M ($206 million).
And then I am left wondering where the extra EU400M income
reported by Arianespace came from.

- Ed Kyle

.

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