Federal Aviation Administration

Office of the Associate Administrator

for Commercial Space Transportation

800 Independence Ave., S.W.

Room 331

Washington, DC 20591

SPECIAL EDITION October 31, 2002 Volume VI, Number 18 

In FY2002, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA)

Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial

Space Transportation (AST) licensed six orbital launches

valued at approximately $460 million, plus two suborbital launches, including:

• Two Delta 2 launches from Vandenberg Air Force 

Base

• One orbital flight of the multinational Sea Launch 

launch service provider

• The inaugural launch of the Atlas 5 and two additional Atlas vehicle launches from Cape Canaveral 

Air Force Station

• Two suborbital launches from Australia of the 

Orion-Terrier with HyShot payloads

The orbital launch count is unchanged from FY2001 (six

launches), but 50 percent lower than FY2000 (12 launches), and reflects a brief leveling off of commercial launch

activity. This leveling trend is expected to end in FY2003

with nine projected FAA-licensed orbital launches. These

nine projected orbital commercial launches include five

Sea Launch Zenit 3SL vehicles, the first Delta 4, an Atlas

3, an Atlas 5, and a Pegasus XL.

During the FY1998-FY2002 period, there was an average of 19 commercial launches to geosynchronous orbit

(GSO) per year, with a low of 16 in FY2002 and a high

of 23 in FY1999. There was a low of four commercial

launches to non-geosynchronous orbits (NGSO) in

FY2002 and a high of 22 in FY1998.

Twenty commercial launches occurred in FY2002, lower

than the average of 32 launches per fiscal year during the

five-year period. The U.S. (including Sea Launch) conducted an average of 13 commercial launches per year

during the five-year period. Russia has averaged about

eight commercial launches per fiscal year during the

same period. Europe has conducted an average of ten

launches per fiscal year since FY1998, having never

been significantly impacted by the drop in commercial

NGSO launch demand. 

$0

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

Estimated Revenue from Licensed 

Launches (in $M)

FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 FY2003

Projected

$686M

$1,183M

$1,039M

$806M

$385M

$460M

FAA-Licensed Commercial Orbital Launch Trend

Europe

9 (45%)

Multinational

1 (5%)

Russia

5 (25%)

USA

5 (25%)

FAA-LICENSED VEHICLES LAUNCHED

IN FY2002

U.S. Commercial Orbital Launch Revenue Trend

Worldwide Distribution of Orbital Commercial

Launches in FY2002

EIGHT FAA-LICENSED LAUNCHES IN FY2002 FIVE-YEAR ORBITAL COMMERCIAL LAUNCH

TRENDS WORLDWIDE

Sea Launch

Vehicle Atlas 1 & 2 Atlas 3 Atlas 5 Delta 2 Zenit 3SL

FY2002 Total 

Launches 3 1 1 5 1

FY2002 Licensed 

Launches 1 1 1 2 1

FY2002 Reliability 3/3 (100%) 1/1 (100%) 1/1 (100%) 5/5 (100%) 1/1 (100%)

10-Year Reliability 59/60 (98.3%) 2/2 (100%) 1/1 (100%) 74/75 (98.6%) 7/8 (87.5%)

LEO Capacity

kg (lb) 8,618 (18,982) 10,764 (23,709) 20,520 (45,238) 5,800 (12,820) 15,876 (34,969)

GEO Capacity

kg (lb) 3,833 (8,450) 4,500 (9,920) 8,670 (19,114) 2,000 (4,550) 6,000 (13,216)

United States

22

18

12

6 6

9

0

5

10

15

20

25

Number of Orbital Launches

FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 FY2003

Projected
Federal Aviation Administration

Office of the Associate Administrator

for Commercial Space Transportation

800 Independence Ave., S.W.

Room 331

Washington, DC 20591

SPECIAL EDITION October 31, 2002 Volume VI, Number 18 

Date Vehicle Site Payload(s) Operator Manufacturer Use Comml 

Price L M

United 

States

10/18/2001 \/ Delta 2 7320 VAFB * QuickBird DigitalGlobe Ball Aerospace and 

Technologies Corp.

Remote Sensing $45-55M S S

2/11/2002 \/ Delta 2 7920 VAFB * Iridium 90 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications $50-60M S S

* Iridium 91 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications S

* Iridium 94 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications S

* Iridium 95 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications S

* Iridium 96 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications S

2/21/2002 \/ Atlas 3B CCAFS * EchoStar 7 Echostar Communications 

Corporation

Space Systems/Loral Communications $90-105M S S

8/21/2002 \/ Atlas 5 401 CCAFS * Hot Bird 6 Eutelsat Alcatel Espace Communications $75-90M S S

9/18/2002 \/ Atlas 2AS CCAFS * Hispasat 1D Hispasat Alcatel Espace Communications $90-105 M S S

Europe

11/27/2001 Ariane 44LP Kourou * DirecTV 4S DirecTV, Inc. Boeing Communications $90-110 M S S

1/24/2002 Ariane 42L Kourou Insat 3C Indian Space Research 

Organization

Indian Space Research 

Organization

Communications $80-100 M S S

2/23/2002 Ariane 44L Kourou * Intelsat 904 Intelsat Space Systems/Loral Communications $100-125 M S S

3/28/2002 Ariane 44L Kourou * JCSAT 8 Japan Satellite Systems (JSAT) Boeing Communications $100-125 M S S

* Astra 3A SES Astrium Boeing Communications S

4/16/2002 Ariane 44L Kourou * NSS 7 New Skies Satellites N.V. Lockheed Martin Corp. Communications $100-125 M S S

6/5/2002 Ariane 44L Kourou * Intelsat 905 Intelsat Space Systems/Loral Communications $100-125 M S S

7/5/2002 Ariane 5G Kourou * Stellat 5 France Telecom Alcatel Espace Communications $150-180 M S S

* N-Star C NTT Mobile Communications 

Network, Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corp. Communications S

8/28/2002 Ariane 5G Kourou * Atlantic Bird 1 Eutelsat Alenia Spazio Communications $150-180 M S S

* MSG 1 Eumetsat Alcatel Espace Meteorological S

9/6/2002 Ariane 44L Kourou * Intelsat 906 Intelsat Space Systems/Loral Communications $100-125 M S S

Russia

3/17/2002 Rockot Plesetsk GRACE 1 NASA/DLR Astrium GmbH Scientific $12-15M S S

GRACE 2 NASA/GFZ Astrium GmbH Scientific S

3/30/2002 Proton (SL-12) Baikonur * Intelsat 903 Intelsat Space Systems/Loral Communications $75-95 M S S

5/7/2002 Proton (SL-12) Baikonur * DirecTV 5 DirecTV, Inc. Space Systems/Loral Communications $75-95 M S S

6/20/2002 Rockot Plesetsk * Iridium 97 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications $12-15M S S

* Iridium 98 Iridium Satellite LLC Motorola, Inc. Communications S

8/22/2002 Proton (SL-12) Baikonur * EchoStar 8 Echostar Communications 

Corporation

Space Systems/Loral Communications $75-95 M S S

Multinational

6/15/2002 \/ Zenit 3SL Odyssey 

Launch 

Platform

* Galaxy 3C Pan American Satellite Corp. Boeing Communications $75-95 M S S

WORLDWIDE ORBITAL COMMERCIAL LAUNCH EVENTS IN FY2002

Denotes a commercial payload, defined as a spacecraft which serves a commercial function or is operated by a commercial entity.

Denotes a commercial launch licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST)

L Denotes launch outcome (S-success, F-failure, and P-partial). M denotes mission outcome (S-success, F-failure, and P-partial).

* 

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