ARIANESPACE LAUNCH SERVICE OPERATOR POLICY FOR SPACE SAFETY (REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS FOR SAFETY)

摘要

Since December 10, 2010, the French Space Actrnhas entered into force. This French Law, referencedrnas LOS N°2008-518 (“Loi relative aux OpérationsrnSpatiales”), is compliant with international rules.rnThis French Space Act (LOS) is now applicable forrnany French private company whose business isrndealing with rocket launch or in orbit satellitesrnoperations. Under CNES leadership, Arianespacerncontributed to the consolidation of technicalrnregulation applicable to launch service operators.rnNow for each launch operation, the operatorrnArianespace has to apply for an authorization tornproceed to the French ministry in charge of spacernactivities. In the files issued for this purpose, thernoperator is able to justify a high level of warrantiesrnin the management of risks through robustrnprocesses in relation with the qualificationrnmaintenance, the configuration management, therntreatment of technical facts and relevantrnconclusions and risks reduction implementationrnwhen needed.rnThanks to the historic success of Ariane launchrnsystems through its more than 30 years ofrnexploitation experience (54 successes in a row forrnlatest Ariane 5 launches), Arianespace as well asrnEuropean public and industrial partners developedrnkey experiences and knowledge as well asrncompetences in space security and safety. Soyuz-STrnand Vega launch systems are now in operation fromrnGuiana Space Center with identical and provedrnrisks management processes. Already existingrnprocesses have been slightly adapted to cope withrnthe new roles and responsibilities of each actorrncontributing to the launch preparation andrnadditional requirements like potential collisionrnavoidance with inhabited space objects.rnUp to now, more than 12 Ariane 5 launches and 4rnSoyuz-ST launches have been authorized under thernFrench Space Act regulations. Ariane 5 and Soyuz-rnST generic demonstration of conformity have beenrnissued, including exhaustive danger and impactrnstudies for each launch system.rnThis article will detail how Arianespace succeededrnto contribute to the maturation of the LOS. HowrnArianespace managed to demonstrate the fullrncompliance to the technical regulation for the twornlaunch systems under exploitation (Ariane 5 andrnSoyuz-ST). Up to now, Vega launch systemrnorganization is still in an intermediate transitionrnphase between development and exploitation priorrnto its second flight. Vega launch system will benefitrnof Arianespace experience capitalized throughrnAriane and Soyuz.rn“Safety is not an option”. For our companyrnregarding the mid and long term interest of spacernbusiness of the launch operations and associatedrncustomers, it is a must!