Founded in 1980, Arianespace SA undertakes the production, operation and marketing of the Ariane 4 and Ariane 5 rocket launchers as part of the Ariane programme. As of 2002 Arianespace held more than 50 percent of the world market for boosting satellites to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). More than 130 commercial launches have occurred since May 22, 1984. This work is copyrighted. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Ariane 42P rocket with the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite (Kourou, August 10, 1992) (NASA) Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the European Space Agency and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2 March 2004. ... The Ariane 4 Ariane is a series of a civilian European expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a Hohmann transfer orbit around the Earth between a low Earth orbit (LEO) and a geostationary orbit (GEO). ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Arianespace utilises a launch site at Kourou in French Guiana. Kourou Kourou is a town and commune in French Guiana, some 40 km northwest of the capital Cayenne at the mouth of the Kourou river on the Atlantic coast. ...

Shareholders include:

• CNES (32.53%)
• EADS (28.59%)
• SAFRAN (9.91%)

See also : Europa rocket The Centre National dÉtudes Spatiales is the French government space agency (administratively, a public establishment of industrial and commercial character). Its headquarters are located in central Paris. ... The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (EADS) (Euronext: EAD, FWB:EAD) is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on July 10, 2000 of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain. ... For the lead singer of Republica see Saffron Saffron is the name given to the dried stigmata and part of the style of the saffron crocus, traditionally called Crocus sativus, which are harvested, dried, and used for cooking. ... The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which was the precursor to the European Space Agency and its Ariane family of launchers. ...

External links

• Arianespace website