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Press release
Evry, October 30, 2002

1673rd successful launch of Soyuz

The 1673rd successful flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 
Kazakhstan.  Starsem and its Russian partners report that the Soyuz 
TMA-1 manned transport spacecraft was accurately placed on the target 
orbit.

The launcher lifted off on schedule at 8:11 a.m. Baikonur local time 
(4:11 a.m. in Paris).

This was the 8th Soyuz mission in 2002 and the 12th manned flight 
since 1996.

Soyuz sustained launch rate confirms its position as one of the 
world's primary launch vehicles. The 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, Alcatel Space Industries, the 
European Space Agency and Eumetsat.

For further information,
please contact
Claire COULBEAUX
+ 33 (0) 1 69 87 01 17
communication{at}starsem.com

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