The Feb. 4 decision by European gov-ernments to throw a long financial lifeline to the Arianespace launch consortium will trigger a series of events in the coming weeks that should lead to an order for 30 Ariane 5 rockets and, toward the end of the year, a reorganization of Ariane-space's share capital to include a greater Italian participation, European government and industry officials said. At the insistence of European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain, the 960 million-euro ($1.2 billion) Arianespace bailout was bundled with a long-debated move to finance a European launch pad for Russia's Soyuz rocket. For Dordain, the Soyuz decision opens the door to a broad future cooperation with Russia on future launch vehicles, gives Europe a commercial rocket to complement the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and opens the door to possible manned spaceflights from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's equatorial spaceport in French Guiana.
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