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It's a truism that people don't really appreciate just how important space is to their daily lives.

They hear about the ISS (International Space Station) and the space shuttle, and they think that's it.

They don't dwell on the multitude of satellites that provide their TV, telephone and internet requirements; and they don't think about the timing and location data from GPS which goes way beyond their car dashboard and underpins a range of services from banking to smart agriculture.

Jean-Yves Le Gall, the boss of , tells a lovely story about the US politician who queried the necessity of launching new Earth-observation satellites:

"A few years ago there was the question in the US of a budget to replace meteorological satellites. And obviously this budget was very big. And a very high-ranking politician, when this budget request was presented, asked 'but why do you want to launch so many satellites when every night on the TV you can see the weather report'?"

Like that politician, many don't think of the constellation of spacecraft that provide their weather forecasts. Space is "under the skin".

Mr Le Gall was in London on Wednesday to deliver a lecture celebrating the 30th anniversary of Arianespace (it was created on the 26 March 1980).

Mr Le Gall delivered his talk at the .

Let me just back up a moment for those who don't know about Arianespace - this is the company that operates Europe's rocket, the Ariane 5, from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

The way things work in Europe is that the European Space Agency (Esa) develops a technology and then another organisation commercialises, or operates, it.

So, for example, the satellites that provide the data for our weather forecasts are developed by Esa but then operated by Eumetsat.

Likewise, Europe's rockets - the Ariane series - are developed by Esa but commercialised by the Evry (Paris)-based Arianespace company.

Again, it's one of those little recognised facts but more than half of the commercial satellites in operation today were launched by Arianespace and its stable of rockets.

This is not a dream story, however. Go back to December 2002 and the company was in deep trouble.

.

Financially, Arianespace was on its uppers. The member-states of Esa and the EADS aerospace giant had to step in and .

Seven years on and Arianespace is now the dominant force in the launcher business. The Ariane 5 has since flown 35 unblemished missions, and the company is about to introduce two new rockets to its French Guiana operation.

One is a ; the other is the established .

The latter development is particularly fascinating.

Europe has funded a purpose-built launch pad for the Soyuz in the South American jungle. Its maiden flight is currently scheduled for late August. And if I can wear my British spectacles for a moment, it will be a key moment for the UK because the payload on that maiden Soyuz will be an innovative British-built broadband-dedicated satellite called .

But back to Mr Le Gall. His RAeS lecture gave a fine summary of the company's history over the past three decades; but the audience was most keen to learn about his views on the future.

This correspondent wanted his observations on the Next Generation Launcher (NGL), sometimes referred to as "Ariane 6". on what sort of rocket might succeed the Ariane 5. What did he think it might be like?

"To get a perfectly working vehicle, you need between 15 and 20 years. And so today, Ariane 5 is perfect; but it is time to think about the launch vehicle which will be here in 2025.
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"Globally, we can say the idea for Ariane 6 probably is to have the capability to better adapt to the size of satellites than Ariane 5... to have the capability to address satellites from three tonnes to six tonnes, and with, also, a better economic rationale, because of course access into space is quite expensive.
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"An Ariane 5 launch is roughly 150-160m euros, and if we could reduce this cost, this would be very helpful to develop space applications."

My predecessor, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s esteemed former aerospace correspondent , wanted to know if there was any possibility that the Ariane 5 might be modified to make it suitable to launch astronauts - to "man-rate" the vehicle. Mr Le Gall's answer:

"There are no plans to man-rate Ariane 5 in the predictable future. We will see if the European member-states of Esa want to take this decision, but honestly when you see the very difficult budgetary situation of countries in Europe, I doubt they will want to enter into this process."

And Richard Peckham, the chairman of , the umbrella body for the UK space industry, raised an issue that many who've corresponded on this blog have discussed: did Mr Le Gall ever envisage a totally re-usable launch vehicle coming into service?

"The US has developed a partly re-usable vehicle in the shuttle. Today, with the existing technology, the re-usable vehicle is much more expensive than the expendable rocket.
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"I do not say that in the future we will not have a technology breakthrough to allow a re-usable vehicle that is more affordable, but today I do not see such projects."

The next few years are going to be challenging for Arianespace.

I've spoken previously on this blog about the imminent arrival of the American Falcon-9 rocket and its promise to substantially undercut the price tag of an Ariane 5.

The by launching two satellites at once, thus reducing its cost to orbit. And there is also the prospect - however unlikely - of the Americans relaxing trade rules which would allow satellites with US components to ride Chinese rockets to orbit.

In other words, the competition is about to get a whole lot tougher.

Watch this space.

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