FRENCH GUIANA -
Rockets in the Jungle
28 Minutes - May 1999
Text and Timecodes
10:00:00:00 <Startclip >
10:00:27:08 Title; Insert: „From Jungle into Space. The European Rocket Ariane in French Guyana"
10:00:37:03 Author; Insert: „A Film by Ingo Malcher"
10:00:46:08 Deep in the Amazonian rain forest of French Guiana, Europe's most sophisticated space technology is ready for blast off.
<Countdown and Start>
10:01:14:03 Today space travel is no longer the realm of fairytales. In the European Space Center, it is big business. Rocket launchings take place almost every 28 days.
10:01:26 Here a Mexican satellite was being launched.
Lauro Gonzalez, President of Satmex:
10:01:31 "It was very difficult to bring our fifth satellite into orbit because it's a very heavy and technologically advanced satelite. But Arianespace proved once again that they're capable of providing strong results when called upon to solve big problems.
10:01:47 Every step of this massive operation is carried out according to plan. This latest Ariane rocket is transported in pieces from Europe to the harbour of Kourou in French Guyana
just one month before the launch. The trip from Europe to South America takes 12 days. After being manufactured for months in Europe, the Ariane will be re-assembled in the space center and used to launch many satellites. Rockets were first launched from here in 1968. In 1980 the first commercial space transportation company was formed.
10:02:21:00 The convoy makes it impossible for other traffic to pass and takes several hours from the harbour to the space center
10:02:39 The space transport agency which made this rocket, Arianespace, is comprised of several
European companies.
10:02:47:03 Years of experience have made Arianespace a major player in the space transport industry. More then half of all commercial satellites are shot into orbit from Europe's space port in Kourou, making Ariane the most successful commercial rocket around. The Director of Arianespace, explains the company's track record:
Roger Solari, Director of Operations of Arianespace
Speaks in English
10:03:09:00 I would say that when you have to choose a launch vehicle you take care of several things, it's not only the price. I would say the main quality of a launch system is to offer a full launch service. And what we offer since many years is a full launch service. Fore sure, something you have to pay for a service. A good quality needs some investment. But when you get very precise, very accurate of it it's very important. But the advantage of Kourou is a.), and we can talk later about that, that we are close to the Ecuador, which means a longer lifetime for the spacecraft in the orbit so when you add all things it's very important.
10:03:57:01 The Spacecenter in Guyana occupies the surface area of a small town.
Every morning around 500 people go to work here, and if there's a rocket
launching, it's four times as many.
10:04:09:09 Assembling the rocket requires a lot of skilled technicians. Each step is
monitored. The whole process must function like clockwork. Every
screw turned is inspected in order to avoid mistakes. But for the
on-site engineers, a rocket launching is nothing extraordinary, it's part of
daily life, part of big business which has been going on here for 30 years.
<Sky> 10:04:33. 02 French Guyana nestles on the border with Brazil and the rain forest tries to claw back the grounds of the Spacecenter. It used to be a French Colony. In the 1940's its status changed to that of an ‘Overseas Department'. This makes French
Guiana the same as a normal French province, just like Provence or Alsace. It is now the last bastion of Europe in South America. Sparsely populated, a mere 140.000 inhabitants inhabit an area as big as Belgium. There is only traffic on the streets of the capital Cayenne around lunchtime. But many feel the space traffic is swamping this sleepy world.
<Ariane> 10:05:12:04 The Ariane is the only channel of investment here. On a launch day there are several million dollars at stake. Such a vast amount of money needs to be closely watched. So the
French Government has sent the 3rd Infantry Corps of the French Foreign Leigion to protect the space program. The whole year round Legionairs guard the Ariane.
10:05:34:00 Giovanni Evangelista and his fellows are parachutists by trade. They're in the process of touring the Legion outposts around the world.
10:05:42:24 The only thing that people know about Legionaires is their
nationality. Men from any country can join the French Foreign
Legion. - but true to its roots, the organisation still offers the chance of a new life. Many change their name and identity the day they enter.
10:06:07:19 Ask any legionnaire why he's here and you'll be greeted with an enigmatic response.
Giovanni, Sergeant of French Toreign Legion
07:15 "Why did I join the Legion? Because I had some problems I can't talk
about now. I joined the Legion in 1987. It was a day in December."
<Boat> 10:06:28:04 French Guiana always used to be a place for no-good
men, once notorious as a brutal penal colony. Over a long period of time,
France sent thieves, killers and political prisoners here, all given the
sentence of banishment--"La Bagne"--the most feared destiny a court could
impose. Hundreds of prisoners were sent on ships over the Atlantic Ocean
onto the three islands off Guiana's coast.
10:06:55:15 Nowadays only ruins testify to that brutal history although some convict settlements lasted until the second world war. How does a place like this throw off the yolk of such suffering and cruelty, where prisoners performed exhaustive labor under the burning sun.
10:07:12:13 Everything
here was built by the prisoners, from the prison buildings to the house of
the commander. Some came to Guiana just to die. In dark cells they would
await their appointment with the Guillotine.
10:07:35:24 The artist Francois Lagrange painted the everyday life of the
prisoners. He was sent to Guiana for counterfeiting money and saved himself
from hard labor by painting the prison life. Other famous names sent here include the Jew Alfred Dreyfus.
Ane Claude Clovis, Historian:
10:08:08:15 „One thing was clear. There was no way back to France. After the
prisoners served their punishment here they had to stay in Guiana for the
rest of their lives. This rule lasted until 1953, when the prison was
officially closed. The conditions here were so hard, because of the hot and
humid climate, which lots of them couldn't resist. It was very hard for
Dreyfus for example: He was alone on an island, with no one to speak to. Not
even the guards spoke to him. Especially for someone who loved to discuss
and to talk, this was horrible. The other prisoners didn't have an
easy life either. They had to build roads, a really hard job and the regime was really hard.
10:09:14:03 When the convicts arrived here, they weren't sent to straight to the islands, but to
the camp of Saint Laurant. Once they reached these shores they considered themselves forgotten by
France and the rest of the world. Their only belongings were a pair of trousers, the shirt on their back, a plate and a cup. From here the prisoners were put to work in the jungle, felling trees and pulling tree-trucks.
10:09:46 Half of the newly arrived prisoners died after the first year. Tropical
diseases and unsanitary food was devastating to the health of the prisoners.
10:09:55:18 And there was no escape. The guard system was perfectly organized and
those who risked escape, were either found dead several days later or
re-captured by guards and thrown into dark and humid cells.
Adrienne Dubonnet, Neighbour
10:10:10:03 "At night the prisoners were put into iron chains. There were no mattresses. They had to sleep on the cement floor. That was unbearable."
10:10:30:01 Today it's forbidden to visit the notorious former penal colony on Devil's Island. As with the other islands, it's private property. It's owner: The Space Center of French Guiana.
10:10:50:19 At the Space Center everything is being prepared for the next Ariane
launch. Radars from the Spacecenter's own weather center make a precise
forecast of changing weather patterns. A storm or heavy rain could be
dangerous. Nothing is left to chance. If the weather conditions aren't right, the launch will be called off. The Ariane team doesn't want to be caught off guard by a climatic inconvenience, even though they passed the 100-launch barrier in 1997.
Bruno Jacquemin, Chief of Weatherstation:
10:11:27:07 "The biggest danger is that the rocket be launched during a lightning
or thunder storm. Another danger is strong wind. We can't launch if there is
strong wind at high altitudes because the rocket might slide off course. These are the two main problems"
10:11:47:13 Nearby is the weather station of the Technical School for the French
overseas department in the region. After receiving a degree here, a student
can go to France and start a university career or look for a job as a
technician.
10:12:04:05 Cedric Ferreira on the right came to Guiana from the south of France two and a half years
ago in order to continue his studies here. He wanted a change in climate, and was keen to see the Ariane up close. But on arrival, his enthusiasm waned as he discovered that Arianspace only employs
Frenchmen, not local residents from Kourou.
Cedric Ferreira, Student:
10:12:29:00 "I came here from France because I've always been fascinated by
rockets and space. That's why I wanted to be close to the rocket. Now I can
see it from the window of my classroom. It always has been my dream to work
here. That's why I came, but now my dream seems just that."
10:12:57:13 In comparison to neighbouring countries, French Guiana has a very good
education system. The schools are equipped like in France and the degrees
are the same. But the chances of finding a job are much slimmer.
10:12:10:01 The satellites launched by Ariane are used to transmit phone calls and soccer games
between continents, or monitor the earth. Clients come from
all over the world. Commercial demand for rockets like
Ariane is very high and there's a long waiting list for clients who want to launch satellites.
10:13:30:02 Ariane's main competitors come from the United States, Russia and,
now, even China has its own rocket. In order to stay ahead of the fierce
competition, new technologies are constantly developed.
10:13:42:07 Arianespace has ambitious plans. With its new generation of rockets,
the Ariane 5, the company soon hopes to be able to simultaneously transport
several satellites at into orbit at once. They also hope to expand the amount of
weight that each rocket can transport. Currently, an Ariane rocket's maximum
capacity is five tons, but within a few years this number should double. For
clients, the additional capacity will surely hike the present $70 million
price tag per launching even higher.
10:14:13:06 But not all of Arianespace's career has been trouble-free. The
June 1996 launching of a new Ariane 5 was supposed to herald a new era
in the European space program. Instead, that launch ended in failure.
<After Explosion> 10:15:04:23 Just seconds after take-off the rocket went off
course and had to be blown up in order to avoid a crash.
10:15:11:03 Fabrice Daltroff is in charge of flight safety. He pilots the
Ariane, although he is always firmly located on earth. On his monitors he
receives all of the Ariane's flight data. With this data it is up to him to
decide if the Ariane has to be blown up or not. If the rocket threatens to
crash, it's his job to press the button.
Fabrice Daltroff, Flight Safety Officer
10:15:35:05 "My wife says that on a launch day I'm not the same person. I think
she's right because there's a lot of pressure on me. But I don't worry if
the rocket is worth one million or one billion Francs. I worry more about
not blowing up a rocket that threatens to go down on an area where people
live. The fear is always there, even if you have lots of experience."
10:16:05:07 French Guiana's tropical rain forest is as diverse as anywhere in South
America. But environmentalists fear this could change. At each rocket
launching, tons of aluminum and carbon dioxide are released into the
atmosphere. Lab tests on rats have shown that the lungs of animals
exposed to these elements were damaged. The effect of acid rain caused by
the launchings has yet to be investigated. But Arianespace is unruffled.
Roger Solari, President of Arianespace
10:16;34:11 „There is a very precise environment and safety regulation in order to preserve the people and the access. We have a great safety organisation on the ranch. We can't do anything without taking appropriate measures. We have also for a launch a lot of measurements around, to see if there is an impact on the surrounding life and vegetation. The other big characteristic was not to cause a big problem for the environment, not to have too many people around."
10:17:12:10 The environmental group Pou d'Agouti is more skeptical, pointing out that Arianespace would not carry through investigations of the rockets' environmental impact.
Philippe Boré, Director of Pou d'Agouti:
10:17:22:18 "Every couple of weeks satellites are launched here, for the purpose of communication as well as surveillance of the earth, to observe the forest and the desert. It's cutting edge
technology. But the problem in Guiana is that nobody puts this technology to use to measure the environmental damage it causes."
10:17:49:00 But environmental worries are not the primary concern for people living
in Guiana. They suffer from a lack of industry and a scarcity of jobs. Most live on unemployment benefit. Industry needs massive investment.
10:18:06:23 Just a small portion of the rainforest here is exploited for economic ends. None of these trunks will be exported to Europe. Yet logging is not a particularly viable alternative, since the world's rainforest is being devastated at an alarming rate.
10:18:28:00 But the locals here feel excluded from the benefits of modern development, which the rocket has brought at the expense of their habitat. The descendants of black slaves have fared especially badly.
10:18:41:03 Piere Neman is the chief of the Boni village in Saint Laurent. The Boni came to French Guiana in the 17th century, when they ran away from their slave-owners. Today, they are trying to maintain their agriculture-based village lifestyle.
10:18:56:18 Since a fire in their village a few weeks ago, these Boni live in this
community house, where they gather to discuss problems or celebrate weddings. Until their homes are rebuilt they will be allowed to stay here.
Piere Neman Boni-Chief:
10:19:09:21 "Our biggest problem is that we can't find work to earn money. There
are very few employment opportunities here. And it's not as easy for us to
get hired for a job as it is for a white man like you or a European. This is
why life is so difficult for us."
10:19:30:07 The Boni benefit little from the spacecenter in Kourou. Not a single
Boni works there. As is so often the case with big business in the third world, the jobs go to highly paid European specialists.
10:19:44:02 There are few examples of industrial production in French Guiana outside of the rocket industry. The state government in Paris has done almost nothing to promote industry here. The
fishing cooperative in Cayene is one of the few well-managed businesses.
Fish from the Caribbean are cut into filets in the company's cold storage. Then they're put in plastic bags, ready for export. But fish caught and packaged here are expensive compared to fish originating in Asia. As a result exportation is limited.
10:20:28:18 Arnaud Monnet is head of the fish firm and is keen to play up the other sectors of the economy, aside from Ariane.
Arnaud Monnet, Director of fish cooperative of Cayenne
10:20:34:20 "If we're talking about industry in French Guiana, Ariane comes first and the rest come way down the scale. The rest means fishing, agriculture, the wood industry. It is difficult to
say which of these 3 is the most important component of the economy. But it is true to say that we
export a lot of prawns and fish to Europe; France, Spain and Italy in particular."
10:21:06:01 There is little activity in Cayenne harbor. French Guiana survives on
the subsidies it receives from Paris. Ships arrive with containers full of
material goods, and usually sail back empty.
10:21:18:20 But not everybody likes to be fed by the government in Paris. Lots of
people consider such dependency a relic of the country's colonial past. The Independence Party won 10% of the votes in the last elections. It says Guiana should see more direct returns from the space industry.
Maurice Pinard, General secretary of the Independence Party (MDES)
10.21.38.00 "There is one thing working in French Guiana, and that is the space
center. The space center is developing itself extraordinarily well but
that's it. But Guiana is not profiting from the rocket launchings like
France and Europe. There are no locals working at the space centre who are profiting from it."
10:22:10:23 Only a small number of companies that supply parts for the Ariane
opened up factories in Guiana. Europropulsion is one of them, producing
engines for the Ariane.
Guiseppe Guiaud, Director of Europropulsion in Kourou
10.22.21.00 "There are several reasons why we came here. One of them is that transport costs are high and very complicated. Then there was the political will of the company to create an industrial infrastructure in Guiana, because the region needs it."
10:22:48:09 In the assembly workshops of the Italian owned company the boosters, part of the
Ariane's engines, are being produced. Once finished, these boosters will be more than 30 meters high. The fuel used is a highly explosive gas mixture. Once the Ariane is launched these engines propel the rocket into space and after 2 minutes they are burned up in space or dropped into the ocean: another pollutant for the environment.
10:23:19:02 Before each rocket launching the French Foreign Legion leaves its fort
to hinder possible saboteurs. Whilst the rocket has never been sabotaged, the Legionaires say their presence has been the principal deterrent to terrorists.
10:23:37:14 Usually there are no serious shootouts in French Guiana. In the middle of the guianese jungle the Legion runs a combat training camp. It's not only members of the French Foreign Legion here. Soldiers from other armed forces train here too.
10:23:52:18 The camp is said to be the toughest of its kind anywhere in the world. From
here the Legion is deployed to conflict areas across the globe.
10.24.01
The French Foreign Legion is almost a legend, best pictured holed up in a remote desert fort fending off territorial attack. It was founded to fight for the interests of France, and here in the 1990's, Legionaires are still doing just that. In French Guiana, French interests clearly lie in the Airane. They see their mission as crucial.
Giovanni Evangelista, Sergeant of French Foreign Legion
10.24.26.00 "The space center has to be protected from all possible terrorist
attacks. Although the surrounding area is full of swamp we have to search it to prevent all possible threats."
10:24:42:10 From the space center the presence of the legion is hardly noticeable, as they try to keep a low profile.
10:24:53:06 But most of the parts which make up the Ariane are not produced in French Guiana. In the assembly halls of Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace in the German city of Bremen, the workers are putting the final touches to the rocket parts before their journey across the Atlantic. An error at this stage could cost millions of dollars. That is why DASA assembles the parts in Germany. Guiana serves only as an ideal launch base for the space industry.
10:25:26:06 Before each launch, several tests are conducted in order to avoid
errors. 20 minutes after launch, the rocket is automatically fuelled by solar energy panels.
10:25:39:23 The satellite is moved delicately because of its
high explosivity. At this stage, there is just one week before launching,
and the countdown is already in motion. From this point on, everything must
work perfectly.
10:25:55:14 If the engineers are in a hurry, the satellite is flown in by a
Russian transport plane, a quicker, but costlier alternative to a slow-moving ocean liner. With the proliferation of satellite communications and TV stations, the demand for satellite launchers like the Ariane will only increase. But it remains to be seen whether a greater share of that profit will trickle down to French Guiana.
10:26:30:13 After the launching the Ariane has a short life. The rocket parts burn up
in space. At the end just the capsule covering the satellite remains. Once in
orbit, the satellite is released. The critical moment is the opening of the
panels. When that happens, ground control knows everything has gone smoothly.
10.26.57.00
Reinhard Hildebrandt, Operations manager of DASA:
"It is an indescribably happy moment, when everything has worked well. Preparations for the launching have taken five to six weeks and within 20 minutes we have the results: either there was no mistake and everything functioned as planned, or something went wrong. Before that there was lots of work done in Europe. The rocket has been assembled over five to six months and it is
impossible to describe the happy feeling when everything turns out well."
10:27:31.00 With the launching of Ariane 5, European space technology enters the new millennium.
Within a couple of years there could be several launches a month, that is, if the ecological timebomb the rocket is creating does not go off.
Ends: 28'10''
Team:
Camera: Jorge Casal
Sound: Pablo Delbracio
Editor: Juan Mayo
Author: Ingo Malcher