Europe spaceport’s long shutdown a threat to Arianespace schedule

Multiple demonstrations in French Guiana included this one, led by robed lawyers, near the Guiana Space Center spaceport. Credit: La Voix du Nord

PARIS — The continued shutdown of Europe’s spaceport threatens to scuttle launch-service provider Arianespace’s plans for 2017 — a year when it hoped to distinguish itself from its competitors.

It is also a problem for those commercial customers whose planned launch dates in March and April are now scrapped, including Eutelsat and its 172B satellite customers, Panasonic Avionics; ViaSat Inc.’s business-crucial ViaSat-2; and SES

To view the entire article, become a subscriber!