On November 15 the first ASAP 5 (Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payloads) was launched from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guyana. This system will cut the launch cost for small payloads considerably.

On the same flight the main Panamsat GEO satellite will be deployed from the Astrium-developed ACU1663SP payload adapter, again flying for the first time on Ariane 5.

"These systems are examples of the excellent progress we are making with the commercialisation of space," said Josef Kind, head of Astrium's Space Infrastructure Business Division and member of the Board of Management of Astrium N.V.

Optimising the space available
Normally, when a satellite is launched, a significant amount of space and some mass capability remains unused in the upper section of the launch vehicle.

ASAP 5 allows this excess capacity to be fully utilised. It is now possible to carry up to eight micro-satellites along with the main satellite. Other variants of the versatile ASAP 5 can fly four mini satellites in place of a single large satellite.

These micro and or mini-satellites can be accurately placed on a variety of orbits including low Earth orbits. The ACU1663SP provides the structural link between ASAP 5 and the main payload.

Today's Ariane 5 saw the successful launch of a large communications satellite, Panamsat 1R, and, with the assistance of ASAP 5, three additional satellites were also launched: the STRV1c and STRV1d micro-satellites on the ASAP and the mini-satellite AMSAT 3D, centrally on another adapter.

The 'Space Technology Research Vehicles', designed and built by DERA, the UK�s Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, are technology demonstrators.

Between them they carry some 25 experimental payloads to study and develop new communications standards, space and ground segment automation, and the survivability of new technologies in the harsh environment of space.

The spacecraft each weigh about 100 kilograms, are rectangular in shape, and are approximately 70 centimetres high. AmSat Phase 3D is an amateur radio satellite weighing 650kg

Alternative for the transport of small satellites
Because the international market for the launch of small satellites is growing rapidly, ASAP 5 is an attractive alternative to launching individually on small launcher systems.

Whereas a small micro-satellite costs on average between one and ten million dollars to build, the cost of a launch, using conventional technology, is up to ten million dollars or more per satellite. In contrast, when these satellites "hitch a ride" on Ariane 5, the launch cost per satellite is customised for the mission.

Astrium, Europe�s leading space company, is a joint venture owned 75% by EADS and 25% by BAE Systems. In 1999 Astrium�s merger partners had a combined turnover of 2 billion Euros, covering science and Earth observation, military observation and communications, telecommunications and ground systems, launchers and orbital infrastructure. In 1999 they employed a total of 7,500 people.

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