GMES program and a new contract worth 270 million Euros for the French-Italian company Thales Alenia Space

ESA and Thales Alenia Space have recently signed a contract worth €270 million to build two satellites for Earth Observation, Sentinel-1B and Sentinel-3B, as part of the GMES program(Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). The total cost of the GMES program is 2.2 Billion Euros. Led by the European Commission in partnership with ESA, GMES programme will provide a unique tool that allows access to accurate and timely information in order to manage the environment better, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, and ensure civil security, for the benefit of Europe and the international community. The success of GMES will be achieved largely through its operational Space Component, which ESA is in the process of realising. This includes the development of a series of five satellites called Sentinels. As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for the design, development, construction and testing of these satellites. Sentinel 1B and 3B are the exact version of Sentinel 1A (see image) and 3A satellites currently under construction, that are to be launched in 2012. The construction of the satellites will take place in Cannes, France, but also in Rome and L’Aquila, in Italy. Reynald Seznec, PDG de Thales Alenia Space, explained that this contract confirms the role that Thales Alenia Space plays in the field of Earth Observation. It underlines the importance of the contribution of the French-Italian company to one of the major European projects in the field of the environment.

Photo (ESA): Luigi Pasquali, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia (left), Enrico Saggese, President of the Italian space agency (ASI) (middle) and Volker Liebig, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes (right) celebrating the contract awarded to Thales Alenia Space to build the B units for Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3