France
The French Space Agency, CNES, is a public administration with industrial and commercial purpose, created in 1961 and placed under the supervision of the French government. Once the space policy is outlined by the French government, the agency is responsible for implementing and coordinating it, with the help of its own teams but also by means of industrial, scientific, national and international partnerships. CNES beneficiates of public financing, under parliamentary control, and has to report on a regular basis to its board of directors as well as to public control bodies. In 2007 its budget was about 1740 million euros, out of which 1383 millions representing state subventions. CNES has about 2400 employees, most of them senior executives and engineers, spread in 4 centres: Evry, Kourou (the French spaceport), Paris (headquarters), Toulouse.
Thanks to the development of Ariane, attributed to the French Agency, France has currently acquired a high level of
know-how in the field of launcher propulsion. Toulouse Space Centre displays a particular capability to
design and build orbital systems, meaning the satellite platforms, their instruments and operation. In what Earth observation is concerned, the French space industry is a
key player in the optical observation systems. Its capabilities in the field of
space telecommunications translate in the integration of a great number of satellites, as part of commercial, national, European and international programs.
Italy
ASI, Italian Space Agency, created in 1988, is a public national body, responsible for implementing the Italian space policy. The Italian agency depends on the Ministry of Research and receives funding from the Government, which finances the project, development and management of space missions and fixes scientific and practical objectives. ASI manages the space missions on its own or in cooperation with important international space bodies, especially the European Space Agency (Italy is the third contributor, after France and Germany), with NASA and other national agencies. Its headquarters are in Rome and other operational centres are located in Trapani, Matera and Malindi, Kenya. ASI employs about 200 people and its annual budget turns around 800 millions euros.
Italy is fully involved in the development of its
capabilities in the field of launchers, with the project management of the launcher Vega, assigned to the Italian industry by the European Space Agency. The Italian industry also provides the oxygen turbopump of the cryogenic engine of Ariane. Italy is also
very active in the field of earth observation by means of radars and displays a strong capability to build satellite platforms. After having contributed to various elements of the International Space Station, Italy expresses its
interest in the Mars exploration programs.
The relationships between the political authorities and the space industry are carried out through the space agencies. As we have seen, they have the necessary technical skills to forward space programs to political decision takers and the necessary technological and legal competences to deal with the space industry. Together, the agency and the industry represent the productive category of the space sector.
f 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.
