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November 19, 2008 - Thales Alenia Space to provide the Amos-4 Ground Mission Segment to IAI
Thales Alenia Space announced the signature of a contract, with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Ltd, for the development, the delivery and the installation of elements in the Amos-4 Ground Segment. The Belgian subsidiary Thales Space ETCA is expected to win an order to supply between 8 and 12 MOTP modules, i.e. the control electronics for the satellite motors that deploy the antennae. Besides the contract via its parent company, Thales Alenia Space ETCA is also expected to build the
electronics known as SADE (Solar Array Drives) used in deploying the solar arrays of the future Amos-4, on behalf of the Swiss company Oerlikon-Contraves.

November 14, 2008 - Thales Alenia Space shipped SICRAL 1B to launch site
The SICRAL 1B satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, has now completed integration and testing, and has been shipped to its launch site. Launch is scheduled for January 2009. SICRAL 1B will provide strategic and tactical communications services for the Italian armed forces, in Italy and abroad, as well as ensuring mobile communications with land, naval and air platforms. It will also provide NATO forces with UHF and SHF satcom capabilities.
Thales Alenia Space ETCA delivered an equipment (Septa) used to turn the solar panels to the sun.

November 12, 2008 - Ciel II shipped to Baïkonour
The Ciel II satellite, of the Ciel Satellite Group, has been delivered to the Baïkonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is ready to start its launch campaign for a Proton launch scheduled for the evening of December 10. Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor of the spacecraft which will be launched by International Launch Services (ILS) for service over CONUS (continental U.S.) and Canada at 129 degrees West longitude orbital position. Thales Alenia Space ETCA has supplied the electrical core and Satellite Distribution and Interface Units that redistribute the power received at the electrical core of the Ciel II satellite to its other electronic equipment.

October 21, 2008 - Third COSMO-SkyMed satellite ready for launch from Vandenberg
Everything is ready at the Vandenberg Air Force base in California for the launch of the third satellite in the Earth Observation constellation, COSMO-SkyMed, on a Boeing Delta II rocket. The liftoff is scheduled for October 24 at 7:28 p.m. local time.
The Belgian company Thales Alenia Space ETCA has delivered a DMDU, an equipment making it possible to deploy solar panels of the satellite.

October 9, 2008 - 1000 micro-rockets rent the sky in Europe.
In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Community of Ariane Cities (CVA, www.ariane-cities.com), the City of Charleroi and Thales Alenia Space ETCA, both CVA members, took part in a unique educational operation of European scope with a view to motivating young people to study science and technology as apart of an experiment involving schools, industry and city mayors.
On 9 October, a number of teachers and some sixty students from three Charleroi schools built nearly thirty micro-rockets and launched them, under the supervision of a Thales Alenia Space ETCA engineer in Charleroi.
Not only Charleroi but also 16 other towns in six countries took part in this project, launching a total of 1000 micro-rockets from Liège, Toulouse, Mureaux, Kourou, Barcelona, Castelldefels, Terrassa, Viladecans, Madrid, Augsburg, Bremen, Lampoldshausen, Hardthausen, Ottobrunn and Zürich.
Thales Alenia Space ETCA is the main supplier of electronics on board the European Ariane 5 rocket.
More info: http://arianecities.viladecans.org/

August 15, 2008 - AMC-21 telecommunication satellite successfully launched
The AMC-21 communication satellite built by Thales Alenia Space was successfully launched on August 14 by an Ariane 5 ECA from Kourou, French Guiana. This satellite will be operated by SES AMERICOM from the 125 degrees West orbital position.
As usual, Thales Alenia Space ETCA supplied power supply and control equipment to Ariane 5 launcher. Its 20 staff based at the European Space Centre in Kourou were on duty for the launch operations with their control benches.

July 2008 - Pleiades: delivery of very-high-resolution optical imaging instrument
This instrument will be used in the first Pleiades earth observation satellite. The Pleiades project is part of ORFEO, a joint Franco-Italian initiative by the countries' national space agencies CNES and ASI, marking a major technological advance in optical earth observation systems. Thales Alenia Space ETCA has built the electrical test equipment for the high-resolution instrument on the Pleiades HR satellite, two units that distribute the electrical power on board the satellites and six power units
for the transmitters that send data to Earth, principally from the HR optical instrument.

June 2008 - Jason-2 launch a success
The Jason-2 satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, was successfully launched last Friday by a Delta II rocket from the Vandenberg base in California. It will be placed into the same orbit as its predecessor Jason-1 to provide virtually complete coverage of ice-free oceans.
The Belgian subsidiary of Thales Alenia Space, Thales Alenia Space ETCA, has built the control and power-supply electronics for the Poseidon 3 radar altimeter. It also supplied power-supply modules for electronics units, power distribution and control cards, four units for transponders and one unit for supplying all the power needed to operate the whole satellite from the two sources - the solar panels and the batteries.

June 2008 - Space Days 2008
WALLONIE ESPACE will organize its second edition of the Space Days in Liège (Belgium) on October 6th & 7th, 2008. This year, the theme is Micro Satellites. Thales Alenia Space ETCA, a member of Wallonie Espace, will be present at this event to promote the Belgian Space activities.

2008 Highlights
- Presentations by SSTL (UK), ESA, CNES (F) and Belgian experts in Micro Satellites
- Scientific corner and workshops animated by Wallonie Espace Members
- B2B meetings amongst the European space community
- Space Village and exhibition opportunities
- Inauguration of the Ariane Cities Community Space Exhibition

For more information: www.space-days.com/

June 2008 - Successful launch of Chinasat 9
The telecommunications satellite Chinasat 9 for which Thales Alenia Space is project leader was launched successfully on 9 June from the Xichang site on a Long March rocket. The satellite was separated in its nominal geostationary transfer orbit half an hour after lift-off.
Thales Alenia Space ETCA supplied the satellite's electrical core (PCU), motor and avionics control modules and 28 units supplying power to the satellite's transmitters.

June 2008 - Visit by Belgian Minister Sabine Laruelle
On 11 June Sabine Laruelle, Federal Minister for SMEs, the Self-Employed, Agriculture and Scientific Policy, visited Thales Alenia Space ETCA. The purpose of her visit was to learn about the activities of Belgium's top space manufacturer and to discuss a number of current issues in the space sector.
The topics covered included the importance of sustaining and developing the Belgian space sector in Europe, Belgium's contribution to the ESA and the need to sustain and increase Federal financial support for research and development in Belgian businesses so as to enable them to become more competitive in the ESA programmes and commercial satellites.

June 03, 2008 - Thales Alenia Space wins Nilesat-201 satellite contract
Thales Alenia Space will provide the Nilesat-201 satellite, broadcasting communication satellite and associated services and ground stations for the Egyptian satellite company Nilesat. Thales Alenia Space ETCA is to supply the electrical core, Satellite Distribution and Interface Units that redistribute the power received at the electrical core of the satellite to its other electronic equipment, and 36 3G EPCs.  

May 2008 - Thales Alenia Space ETCA to supply electrical cores for 48 satellites
Thales Alenia Space ETCA is to supply the electrical cores (power conditioning & distribution units - PCDUs) for the 48 satellites of the forthcoming Globalstar 2nd generation constellation. For the Belgian subsidiary of Thales Alenia Space, this is the second largest order ever in terms of the number of satellites to be equipped. 
 

April 30, 2008 - Thales Alenia Space delivers Jason-2 satellite
The Jason-2 satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space, left its integration centre in Cannes for its launch site. The satellite is slated for a June 15 launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base (California, USA) by a Delta II rocket. Designed to study the Earth's oceans and climate, Jason-2 will take over from its predecessor, Jason-1, which has already been in orbit for seven years and is still operational. Jason-2 will provide an opportunity for the launch of new services, including maritime forecasts for ships, and coupling of this data with weather forecasts.

Thales Alenia Space ETCA has built the control and power supply (PSU) electronics for the Poseidon 3 radar altimeter.
 

April 25, 2008 - Launch: GIOVE-B
GIOVE-B, the second experimental satellite part of the Galileo constellation, is ready to begin its journey from the spaceport of Baikonur, in Kazakhstan. The satellite is schedule for launch by a Starsem Soyuz/Fregat launch vehicle at 04:16:02 local time on April 27. GIOVE-B (Galileo In Orbit Validation Element) will verify the most critical technologies of the European satellite navigation system Galileo.

In Belgium, Thales Alenia Space ETCA supplied two power distribution units (PDUs) and power conditioning equipment (PCE) that distribute the electrical power from the two sources on board the satellites, namely the photovoltaic solar panels and the batteries (during a solar eclipse) and also manage the storage of surplus power from the solar panels in the satellites' batteries. Thales Alenia Space Antwerp supplied the test benches used to check the performance of the Giove-B navigation signal before launch.

April 21, 2008 - New successful launch: Star One C2
Star One C2, the second of the "C-series" telecommunication satellites, designed and built by Thales Alenia Space, has been launched by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket on April 18th. Star One C2 is dedicated to the Brazilian satellite operator Star One, owned by Embratel (80%) and GE International Holdings (20%).

Thales Alenia Space ETCA, has built the power-conditioning unit (PCU) for the STAR ONE C2 satellite telecommunications platform. The company has also designed and built 49 EPCs and integrated them with the travelling wave tubes (TWTs). The EPCs, together with the travelling wave tubes, amplify the signals that the satellite's transmitters send to Earth.

As the main supplier of onboard electronics for Ariane 5, Thales Alenia Space ETCA also supplied power supply and control equipment, totalling 21 electronic modules. Its 20 staff permanently based at the European Space Centre in Kourou were also on duty during the launch operations.

April 14, 2008 - A euro 305 million contract for the Sentinel-3 satellite
Thales Alenia Space has signed a 305 million euro contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to supply the Sentinel-3 Earth observation satellite for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program. This contract covers the first satellite in the Sentinel-3 mission, dedicated to oceanography and monitoring of land vegetation.

The Belgian subsidiary of Thales Alenia Space, Thales Alenia Space ETCA, has signed an ATP (Authorization to Proceed) with Thales Alenia Space to design and build the power supply (PSU) electronics for the SRAL radar altimeter.

April 2008 - Thales Alenia Space ETCA sponsors the Belgian Robotics Cup 2008
Thales Alenia Space ETCA is supporting the Belgian Robotics Cup to be held at the Science Adventure Park (PASS) in Mons on 5 and 6 April 2008. It is a unique opportunity for young people fascinated by technology to express their creativity and test their knowledge and real-time adaptation skills. Passion, creativity, proactivity, performance, ... these are also the watchwords of the 250 Thales Alenia Space ETCA engineers who - day-in, day-out - are developing advanced technology for the space and telecoms industries.
More info

March 7, 2008 - Thales Alenia Space, a major contributor to the ATV Jules Verne vehicle
Thales Alenia Space is proud to announce that it has significantly contributed to the development and manufacturing of the European Space Agency's ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle), for the prime contractor Astrium Space Transportation. ATV, which is scheduled for launch from Kourou, French Guiana, on March 9 by a special version of the Ariane 5 launcher, will deliver experiments, equipment and spare parts, as well as food, air and water to the ISS' permanent crew.

The Mont-sur-Marchienne site of Thales Alenia Space, Thales Alenia Space ETCA, supplied a four-unit PCU. This equipment supplies power to certain units of the ATV. Orders have also been received to supply the PCUs for the next four ATVs. Thales Alenia Space ETCA has also built the power supply for the videometer that enables the Jules Verne ATV to dock with the International Space Station.
The Thales Alenia Space site at Hoboken, Thales Alenia Space Antwerp, has built testing systems that helped to integrate the ATV and formed part of a control environment built by the CNES for operational support to the ATV missions.

February 8, 2008 - The European Laboratory Columbus is in-orbit: A new success for Thales Alenia Space
ESA's Columbus laboratory, developed with Thales Alenia Space as main contributor, has been successfully launched yesterday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida (USA) to the International Space Station (ISS). The Shuttle Atlantis lifted off at 20:45 CET and entered into orbit perfectly. It will dock to the ISS after a 2-day journey.

Thales Alenia Space Antwerp was the main subcontractor for the EGSE (Electrical Ground Support Equipment) test bench used to carry out all the environment tests on the Columbus module.

January 2008 - New space contract
Last June, Thales Alenia Space signed a contract with the Russian satellite builder NPO-PM. The purpose of the contract is to supply the equipment for the two repeaters* that will be built into the telecommunications satellites Loutch-5A and Loutch-5B for the Russian Space Agency.

Thales Alenia Space ETCA has been selected to supply the EPCs, the equipment that is to supply power to the transmitters of the Russian satellites Loutch-5A and 5B.

These satellites will provide communications, television and data links between the space station and Earth. They will also be used as communications relays with the Russian satellites in low orbit and the Russian launchers.
Loutch -5A and Loutch -5B will have a life of around ten years. These satellites will be launched in 2009 and 2010.

* electronic equipment for amplifying digital signals.