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Europe in space (4)
"... The Symphonie communication satellites were to have been launched on the Europa II but with that launcher failure the French and Germans were obliged to pay the Americans for a launcher.
Under an international agreement between the Western industralized nations signed in August 1964, responsability for international satellite communications was assigned to Intelsat - which was 56% owned by its American branch, Comsat. Under article 14 of the Intelsat Convention, member states agreed no to take actions that might be finacially prejudicial to Intelsat.
In this context Symphonie was seen as a threat under article 14 and to the monopoly hitherto enjoyed by American launchers and satellites makers. The French and Germans argued that, as a regional European satellite it posed no serious threat to American interests - but that argument fell on deaf ears. Without a national launcher as Europa II the French and Germans had no choice but to go back to the Americans, who agreed to launch Symphonie only if it was used for experimental, not commercial, purposes.
The French learned a hard lesson from this experience, namely the absolute importance of an independant European launcher. Indeed many years later several French leaders mused whether there ever would have been an Ariane without the American pig-headedness over Intelsat article 14.