| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cannes, France |
| Key people | Reynald Seznec,[1] President and CEO |
| Operating income | 1.8 billion euro (2004) |
| Employees | 7,200 (Nov. 2006) |
| Parent | Thales Group & Finmeccanica |
| Website | http://www.thalesgroup.com/Markets/Space/Home/?LangType=2057 |
Thales Alenia Space is an aerospace company born[2] after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.[3]
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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 company was Europe's largest satellite manufacturer.
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.[4]
The European Union agreed in this financial operation on April 10, 2007.[5]
The company built large scientific modules for the International Space Station, notably the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules and Columbus.
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.[6] The launch, on a Long March 3B rocket, was successfully conducted on July 5, 2007.
In 2007, Thales Alenia Space had 7200 employees in 13 industrial sites located in five countries (France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and USA):
Current CEO is Reynald Seznec since June 2008, replacing Pascale Sourisse.[7]