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Press release
Evry, June 8, 2003

Success of the 1679th launch of Soyuz

The 1679th flight of a Soyuz family launch vehicle was performed
Sunday, June 8, 2003 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The launcher lifted off on schedule at 4:34 p.m. Baikonur local time
(12:34 p.m., in Paris), and the Progress spacecraft was accurately
placed on the target orbit.

Soyuz sustained launch rate confirms its position as one of the
world's primary launch vehicles. This rate also demonstrates Samara
Space Center's continuous production capacity, as well as the
operational capability of launch teams at Baikonur under the
authority of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.

Starsem is the Soyuz Company, bringing together all key players
involved in the production, operation and international commercial
marketing of the world's most versatile launch vehicle. Shareholders
in Starsem are EADS (35%), the Russian Aviation and Space Agency
(25%), the Samara Space Center (25%) and Arianespace (15%).

The Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes
contracted launches for Space Systems/Loral, the European Space
Agency and Eumetsat. 

For further information,
please contact
Claire COULBEAUX
+ 33 (0) 1 69 87 01 10
communication{at}starsem.com

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