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

ORFEO: French-Italian cooperation on an Earth observation program

ORFEO (Optical and Radar Federated Earth Observation) is an Earth observation dual satellite system, composed of an optical component, Pleiades and a radar component, Cosmo-SkyMed. In the context of a French-Italian cooperation, the optical system Pleiades is developed by the French Space Agency while the radar system Cosmo-SkyMed is placed under the responsibility of the Italian Space Agency. The Orfeo program is governed by the Treaty of Turin, of February 2007.
The objective of the Pleiades program is to provide a new generation of optical images of the Earth, in order to better respond to European civilian and military needs. This program will allow its civilian users (cartographers, volcanologist, geophysicists, hydrologists, architects, etc) and military users quick access to a very rich array of precise images. The program is led in cooperation with Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Austria. Due to the fact that the program is intended for both civilian and military use, it is financed in part by the Ministry of Defense. The total cost of it is 314 billion Euros. As far as the space industry is concerned, EADS-Astrium deals with the construction of the space segment at their facilities in Toulouse, while Thales Alenia Space develops the optical instrument of Pleiades at the Cannes Space Center.
Cosmo-SkyMed (Constellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) is an Earth observation dual satellite system, intended, just like Pleiades, for a civilian and military use. Four satellites equipped with radar sensors will provide high resolution images that will be easily accessible, precise and regularly updated. Its application services will contribute significantly to the defense of the territory in areas such as fire, landslides, droughts, floods, pollution, earthquakes and subsidence, management of natural resources in agriculture and forestry, as well as monitoring of urban sprawl. From an industrial point of view, the program was assigned to the French-Italian companies Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio but also to a high number of small and medium sized enterprises.

French-Italian Agreements

France and Italy have a common approach in the space sector.
In January 2001, a governmental agreement has been signed in Turin, that refers to the cooperation between the two countries in the filed of Earth Observation.
In June 2006, a new agreement has been reached between the two national agencies in the filed of Telecommunications, that focuses on a feasibility study (phase A) of the project Athena-Fidus. The agreement was immediately followed by a Letter of Intent between the two parties, signed in May 2007. It was agreed that the successive phases of the program be pursued, in order to develop a space infrastructure for high-speed satellite communication. This particular project aims at meeting the needs of the Italian and French Ministry of Defence and the civil institutions of the two countries (security, firemen and police)
In the last years French-Italian relationships have grown stronger, especially due to the signature of a new agreement, dated February 2007, whose objective is to a strengthen the collaboration between the two countries in the space sector. Through this agreement, France and Italy commit to coordinate and harmonise their policies and actions in order to contribute to the implementation of the European space policy. The agreement is stipulated for a 10-year period and after this deadline it will be automatically renewed.
In the filed of Universe Exploration, a Protocol of Intent has been signed between the Italian and the French agencies, in May 2007. It aims at the development of Phase A of the Symbol X program, a French project, for a scientific mission carried out by two satellites flying in formation. Symbol X, operational in the period 2013-2016, will give the opportunity to France and Italy to acquire more knowledge in the field of astrophysics X while their industries will be leaders in satellite formation flying programs.
Finally, in December 2007, a new cooperation agreement was forged, that increased staff mobility between the two agencies.