Cannes, January 11th, 2020 – After leading over the last five years several R&D activities for the Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) on Space Robotics Technologies set up by the European Union within Horizon 2020, Thales Alenia Space, Joint Venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %) and its Partners have been awarded by the European Commission a preparation project (phase A/B1) for in-orbit demonstration dedicated to In-Orbit Servicing space vehicles. An in-orbit demonstration is expected by 2026.

Cannes, January 7th, 2021 – Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %), has signed a contract with ESA worth € 2,8 Million for the study, design, manufacture and test of the ATHENA Mirror Assembly Module Demonstrator.

An exceptional year for Earth observation and space exploration

Cannes, December 29, 2020 – Following the launch of CSO-1 in December 2018, the CSO-2 military observation satellite was successfully launched today by Arianespace using a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Featuring a very-high-resolution optical instrument built by Thales Alenia Space, the joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), the satellite was developed by Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor for the Armament General Directorate (DGA), with French space agency CNES as delegated contracting authority.