Industry Aerospace Website Thales Alenia Space Founded 10 April 2007 | Operating income Headquarters Cannes, France Number of employees 7,200 (Nov. 2006) | |
 | ||
Key people Jean-Loïc Galle, President and CEO CEO Jean-Loic Galle (1 Sep 2012–) Parent organizations Thales Group, Leonardo S.p.A. | ||
Thales Alenia Space is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer formed after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Leonardo, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio. The company is Europe's largest satellite manufacturer.
Contents
Thales alenia space stratobus long endurance stratospheric vehicle simulation 1080p
History
Alcatel Alenia Space was established on June 1, 2005 by the merger of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio and was owned by Alcatel-Lucent (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%).
The creation of the company was concurrent with the creation of Telespazio Holding. This too was a merger of Finmeccanica and Alcatel businesses (Telespazio and Alcatel's Space Services and Operations respectively).
On April 5, 2006 Alcatel agreed to sell its share of Alcatel Alenia Space (and its 33% share of Telespazio) to Thales Group.
The European Union agreed in this financial operation on April 10, 2007.
Activities
The company built the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, which was used to transport cargo inside the Space Shuttle orbiters. They also built several modules for the International Space Station, those modules are Cupola, Columbus, Harmony, Tranquility and Leonardo. They currently build the pressurized vessels for the Automated Transfer Vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft.
In the mid-1990s, the United States stopped issuing export licenses to companies to allow them to launch on Chinese launch vehicles out of fear that this would help China's military. In the face of this, Thales Alenia Space built the Chinasat-6B satellite with no components from the United States whatsoever. This allowed it to be launched on a Chinese launch vehicle without violating U.S. ITAR restrictions. The launch, on a Long March 3B rocket, was successfully conducted on July 5, 2007.
Locations
In 2015, Thales Alenia Space had 7500 employees and from 2013 operates in 14 industrial sites located in seven countries (France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany and United States):
Executive Board
Current CEO is Jean-Loïc Galle since September 2012, replacing Reynald Seznec.