Airbus Defence and Space, formerly known as Astrium Space Transportation, will build 18 heavy-lift Ariane 5 rockets for delivery starting in 2017 under a contract valued at more than 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion), Astrium announced Dec. 14. The contract, with launch services provider Arianespace of Evry, France, was signed at Europe's Guiana Space Center spaceport in South America, which is French territory, in the presence of French President Francois Hollande. Arianespace had previously contracted with Astrium for Ariane 5 long-lead items to assure that the vehicles arrive as scheduled.
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