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Success of the 1677th launch of Soyuz

Evry, 26 April 2003

The 1677th flight of a Soyuz family launch vehicle, Soyuz-FG version, was performed on Saturday, April 26, 2003 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Starsem and its Russian partners report that the Soyuz TMA-2 manned transport spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit.

The launcher lifted off on schedule at 09:53 a.m. Baikonur local time (05:53 a.m., in Paris).

Soyuz sustained launch rate confirms its position as one of the world's primary launch vehicles. This rate also demonstrates Samara Space Center's continuous production capacity, as well as the operational capability of launch teams at Baikonur under the authority of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

Starsem is the Soyuz Company, bringing together all key players involved in the production, operation and international commercial marketing of the world's most versatile launch vehicle. Shareholders in Starsem are EADS (35%), the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (25%), the Samara Space Center (25%) and Arianespace (15%).

The Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted launches for Space Systems/Loral, Alcatel Space Industries, the European Space Agency and Eumetsat.

For further information, please contact:
Claire COULBEAUX
+ 33 (0) 1 69 87 01 10
communication@starsem.com