Thales Alenia Space meets objectives for 2009

Thales Alenia Space won contracts for seven communications satellites and three satcom payloads in 2009, along with two observation satellites, nine pressurised modules for the International Space Station, and two experimental atmospheric reentry vehicles.

Communications: new customers and successful partnerships in a sustained commercial market

* New customers won: Gazprom in Russia, and OverHorizon, a new operator based in the United States, Sweden and Cyprus.
* Solid results, including seven contracts for geostationary satellites: Yamal 401 and 402 for Gazprom, Arabsat 5A and 6B (as co-prime with Astrium), W3C for Eutelsat, Apstar 7 for APT Satellite Company, and OverHorizon (as co-prime with Orbital).
* Three payload contracts: one with Indonesian operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia to supply the payload for the Telkom-3 satellite, in partnership with ISS Reshetnev of Russia; another to supply the Redsat payload for the Hispasat AG1 satellite; and a third for the payload on the Argentine satellite Arsat-1.
* Thales Alenia Space assisted its customers Globalstar and O3b in obtaining financing guarantees from French export credit agency Coface. This enabled restarting production of their satellite constellations, and coping with the difficulties of the financial crisis.
* Successful rescue of the Palapa-D communications satellite, thanks to Thales Alenia Space’s technical expertise and the unique design of its satellites.



Orbital infrastructure and space transportation: global recognition for Thales Alenia Space’s skills and expertise

* European Space Agency (ESA) and Thales Alenia Space sign agreement for development of the IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) atmospheric reentry demonstrator.
* Within the scope of the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program, signature of a major contract with Orbital Science Corporation to produce nine new pressurised cargo modules for the International Space Station, using the Cygnus™ spacecraft.
* Contract with ESA for development of the EXPERT (EXPErimental Reentry Testbed) program.



Science: an exceptionally successful year for science programs

* Thales Alenia Space is an official sponsor of the International Year of Astronomy.
* May 2009: launch of the ambitious Herschel/Planck mission for ESA, with flawless performance by the two spacecraft built by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor.
* Initial results from Goce scientific satellite launched in March 2009 expected in January 2010.
* The Corot astronomy satellite has its service life extended by three years, to the satisfaction of scientists worldwide.


Earth observation and climate change: recognition for dedicated climatology satellites, and continuation of GMES program

* The dedicated climatology satellites produced by Thales Alenia Space for more than 30 years continue to go from success to success: Jason-1 has largely exceeded its design life (8 years vs. 3 years originally), Calipso won kudos from NASA, and SMOS, launched in November, has already passed all platform tests.
* Thales Alenia Space is working on high-tech satellites that will help address the most vital environmental issues in the near future; the company is teaming up with governments, scientists and industry to support forward-looking environmental programs.
* At the end of December, Thales Alenia Space signed contracts with ESA for the second models in the Sentinel series, Sentinel 1B and 3B, as part of the GMES program.



Thales Alenia Space Belgium, partner on the Ariane launcher

* Thales Alenia Space ETCA has signed a contract with Astrium to supply electronics and services for the 35 Ariane 5 launchers to be produced from 2011 to 2015. The company will design and produce 21 electronic units for each launcher.



Thales Alenia Space onboard 14 launches and all types of launchers

* 6 communications satellites: W2A, Sicral 1B, Palapa-D, ComSat BW1, Thor 6, W7.
* 2 observation satellites: Smos, Helios 2B.
* 1 module for the International Space Station: MPLM.
* 3 scientific satellites: Goce, Herschel, Planck.
* 2 early warning satellites: Spirale.
* 3 satcom payloads: AM44, MD1, Amerhis.



Tragedy in Italy: earthquake hits L’Aquila in April 2009
Thales Alenia Space has mobilised to rebuild the production plant in L’Aquila, Italy, hard hit by the earthquake last April. By investing in the plant as quickly as possible, Thales Alenia Space focused on sustaining customer satisfaction, and minimising the economic impact of the loss of certain production facilities. The programs previously developed at L’Aquila were transferred to Rome to ensure continuity and reduce as much as possible the impact of this event on deliveries, as well as the financial impact.



About Thales Alenia Space
The European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups’ “Space Alliance”. Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecommunications, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. With consolidated revenues of 2 billion euros in 2008, Thales Alenia Space has 7,200 employees at 11 industrial sites in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
www.thalesaleniaspace.com