Starsem

Starsem was founded in 1996 as a joint venture between European and Russian space industry partners to handle the commercial marketing and sales of the Soyuz launch vehicle. Its shareholders are ArianeGroup, Arianespace, Roscosmos, and the Progress Rocket Space Centre. Operating primarily from Baikonur Cosmodrome, the company has managed launches for government and commercial satellite customers including Globalstar and Radarsat-2. Starsem holds exclusive responsibility for Soyuz commercial contracting and campaign management, coordinating between Russian production at Samara and Western payload operators. Its role was affected by the suspension of Soyuz operations in French Guiana following the Russia-Ukraine war.