The global commercial satellite market is recovering from its worst ever crisis caused by the burst of the dotcom bubble, Arianespace chief executive Jean-Yves Le Gall said on the sidelines of CommunicAsia, the region's largest annual telecommunications trade fair being held here.

Le Gall said growing demand for direct television links through satellites and high-speed Internet connections are expected to spur telecommunications firms to put up their own stations.

The recovery should start this year, with 15 expected satellite launches worldwide, still down from the previous annual average of between 20 and 30.

Of the 15 contracts, Le Gall said he expects Arianespace to get eight.

"Globally, we are in a quite more optimistic mood among the many players in this market," he said.

He said the company is on track for this target, having already signed deals this year to launch four commercial satellites for companies in Japan and Australia.

Arianespace is the world's leading carrier of commercial satellites, accounting for 60 percent of the launches.

Le Gall said Asia should account for 40 percent of Arianespace revenues in the next few years, overtaking the United States which is seen to contribute 30-35 percent and Europe at 25 percent.

"I think that we are seeing here (in Asia) a good recovery because there are regional players," he said.

"In the United States, we had a lot of consolidation (and) we now have a very small number of operators ... In Europe, it's the same."

Among Arianespace's clients in Asia are telecom giants in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Malaysia and Thailand.

This year, Arianespace signed a deal to lauch two satellites for Optus, the Australian subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunication Ltd.

It has also been contracted to carry two satellites for JSAT, Japan's leading commercial satellite services provider.

Thailand's ShinSat had previously contracted Arianespace to launch iPSTAR, a 250 million dollar broadband Internet satellite, which at seven tons would be the biggest commercial satellite to be put into orbit.

Le Gall said the company had no definite schedule on when to launch iPSTAR, while another satellite for PT Telekomunikasi of Indonesia should be lifted into orbit late this year or early next year.

SPACE.WIRE