The ST-1 mission is the first since the April 28 launch of Flight 108, which successfully orbited the Egyptian Nilesat 101 and Japanese BSAT-1b direct broadcast satellites.

Arianespace's August-December launch schedule once again demonstrates its capability to adapt to changing market conditions -- in this case, a four-month "quiet period" resulting from the unavailability of customer satellite payloads.

The company's capacity to accelerate mission rates to match satellite availability has been demonstrated before by Arianespace and its industrial team -- most recently in 1997, when seven missions were conducted between August 8 and December 20.

"We are pulling out all the stops to satisfy all our customers, whatever the upstream difficulties," Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Marie Luton told reporters earlier this summer at the company's annual press conference.

"What is clear is our absolute commitment to responsiveness. Nothing is considered impossible, while at the same time we will maintain the flawless quality and rigor required to ensure maximum reliability.

Arianespace used the past several months to perform normal maintenance work on the launch facilities at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. When possible, employees took their vacations in June and July in order to be available during the second half of the year.