Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Arianespace conclude
MOU on cooperation in commercial space rocket launches
June 7, 2013
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and
Arianespace S.A. concluded a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) pertaining primarily to implementation of joint
proposals relating to commercial space rocket launches.
An exchange of the MOU documents took place at the
Japanese Prime Minister’s official residence in the
presence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and French
President Francois Hollande, who is currently in Japan
on an state visit. The exchange ceremony was attended by
MHI Chairman Hideaki Omiya and Jacques Breton,
Arianespace’s Senior Vice President in charge of Sales &
Customers.
With the new MOU, MHI and Arianespace agreed to
collectively probe the creation of innovative new launch
services and standardization of satellite preparation
tasks at launch sites as a follow-up to their
cooperative achievements to date. The aims behind the
latest initiative are further development of the
commercial launch market and sustained enhancement of
the two companies’ related services.
Cooperation between Japan’s space industry and
Arianespace traces back to the early 1990s, when the two
sides exchanged views in a quest to standardize rocket
and payload interfaces. Out of those exchanges evolved a
new cooperative relationship between MHI and Arianespace
that led to the two companies’ formation of a “Launch
Services Alliance.” The new MOU is designed to take
their mutual partnership one step further.
MHI Chairman Hideaki Omiya spoke of the new MOU in
the following terms. “MHI is very proud to conclude this
memorandum with Arianespace, a company that boasts a
greater than 50% share of the global commercial launch
market,” he said. “We are confident that by cooperating
with Arianespace we will be able to provide customers
with more attractive services of higher value. Relations
between France and MHI span many different areas, and
with this latest development we look forward to the
further strengthening or our ties.”
Returning from the Guiana Space Center after the
successful launch of the ATV4 mission to the
International Space Station, Arianespace Chairman and
CEO Stéphane Israël expressed his satisfaction with the
formal signature of this partnership, less than a month
after his trip to Japan. He warmly thanked the French
President and Japanese Prime Minister for helping to
spotlight this collaboration between Arianespace and
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Arianespace’s Jacques Breton, the company’s Senior
Vice President in charge of Sales & Customers, offered
these remarks on the occasion: “Arianespace is
especially proud of this agreement concluded with the
giant of the Japanese space industry,” he commented.
“This cooperative arrangement should enable both MHI and
us to propose services to our clients that are more
flexible and better suited to their needs. Japan has
been a major partner for Arianespace for 30 years, and
will continue to be so for many more years to come.”
