ASTRA Asigurări supports ARCA for Mission 4 – Launching the Helen 2 rocket, the first Romanian space rocket

Constanţa, 23 iulie 2010. Astra Asigurări and the Romanian Association for Cosmonautics and Aeronautics (ARCA) have signed a partnership on supporting Mission 4 - launching the Helen 2 rocket, the first Romanian space rocket, participating in the Google Lunar X Prize international aeronautics competition.

With this partnership, ASTRA Asigurări sponsors the insurance of the spaceships and of the crews participating in the launching operations which will take place on the Black Sea.

ASTRA Asigurări thus re-states its support for Romanian innovation and performance in research after ASTRA Asigurări and ARCA have collaborated on the Mission 3 launching test in 2009. Astra Asigurări statement:

“They say we are a trend-setting company both in business and in the partnerships we develop. For several years now we have been involved in social responsibility actions, as sponsors of cultural and sports events. We are a Romanian company and we believe in Romanians all over the world. We are glad to be there for the crew that has created the first module to be launched in suborbital flight. We wish the best of luck to the adventurous crew in Vâlcea and we hope the launching of the first Romanian space rocket will prove a success, according to the uniqueness of this project. I wish you all the best and the best possible weather!”, Mr. Radu Mustatea, President of the ASTRA Asigurări Directorate, wished the crew.

ARCA statement:

“ASTRA Asigurări is an important partner in the launching of the Helen 2 space rocket, insuring the participating space ships and crews that are taking part in the launching operations on the Black Sea. The partnership with ASTRA Asigurări provides the ARCA team and the crews participating in the launching with extra confidence in the success of the mission. We are glad to have ASTRA Asigurări on our side in this unique mission for Romania.” - ARCA President, Dumitru Popescu.

About ASTRA Asigurari

At the end of Q1/2010, ASTRA Asigurari registered a net accounting profit amounting to RON 4,850,731 RON and a 65% increase compared to the 1st quarter of 2009, as the company came in First in the Top Romanian Insurers.

The company is a market leader on marine and aviation, property and auto liability insurance. The volume of total subscribed gross premiums (life and non-life) registered by ASTRA Asigurări as of 31.03.2010 amounts to RON 329,821,943, of which RON 327.089.944 is the volume of gross premiums subscribed to general insurance.

At the end of March this year, within the Award Gala of Insurance Market Awards, ASTRA Asigurări received the “Insurer of the Year” Award, on the general insurance segment. For the successful implementation of the system on the electronic issuance of insurance policies, ASTRA Asigurări, the most important insurance company with Romanian majority capital was awarded the Special Award for PROFESSIONALISM and PERFORMANCE.

About ARCA

ARCA is a non-governmental organization, a national leader in airspace research. During its ten years of activity, ARCA has developed three important airspace research programs: Demonstrator, Stabilo and Haas-ELE.

The Demonstrator 2B rocket is provided with the first rocket engine in the world made of composite materials, that can be re-used, monopropellant and it was successfully launched on September 9th, 2004.

Stabilo is a two step rocket ship launched from the air that has so far carried out two flights. Mission 1 was launched from an altitude of 14,700 m, in the stratosphere, where it took the first images of earth's curvature. In 2007, Mission 2 was launched at an altitude of 12,000 m above the Black Sea. The team received the flight data and images via a telecommunication satellite.

ARCA has been participating in the Google Lunar X Prize Competition since 2008, with the stakes consisting of a $ 30 million prize, awarded to the team launching a rocket with a robot landing on the Moon. Therefore, ARCA is developing the ELE lunar probe, together with the Haas satellite launching rocket. Haas is the most ambitious research project ever to be initiated by Romania.

In April 2010, ARCA tested the equipment of the Helen rocket, with a hot air balloon, in flight, at a 5,000 m altitude. The test was a success. The launching of the Helen 2 rocket, which will take place soon, has a double purpose. On the one hand, the launching of the first Romanian space rocket, and on the other hand, testing the subsets for the HAAS lunar launcher.

Press Office - mihaela.constantin@astrasig.ro