na-Fidus satellite arrived at launch base in French Guiana

Athena-Fidus satellite arrived at launch base in French Guiana

Athena-Fidus satellite arrived at launch base in French Guiana

Thu, 12/12/2013

Cannes, December 11th, 2013 - The Athena-Fidus broadband telecommunications satellite, a joint French-Italian program, arrived at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on December 9. Thales Alenia Space is program prime contractor on behalf of the French and Italian space agencies, CNES and ASI, as well as the French (DGA) and Italian (Segredifesa) defense ministries, respectively with responsibility for the development, construction, testing and in-orbit delivery of the satellite. Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, is involved in the ground segment part of this project, contributing its expertise in areas involving the launch and subsequent orbital positioning of the satellite.

The Athena-Fidus program (Access on theatres for European allied forces nations-French Italian dual use satellite) includes a geostationary satellite with EHF and Ka-band transponders and the ground control segment, based in a French military site. The satellite deploys the latest civil telecom standards, DVB-RCS and DVB-S2, to ensure optimum transmission capacity and service availability. It will provide data transmission services especially to the French and Italian defense ministries, as well as to these countries security organizations (civil security, homeland security, police, firefighters, etc.).

Built on a Spacebus 4000 platform, the satellite will weigh over 3,000 kg at launch and offers a design life exceeding 15 years. The launch will be carried out by Arianespace using an Ariane 5 ECA launcher.

Thales Alenia Space is the industrial prime contractor on the Sicral 2 and Athena-Fidus programs, the first European (French-Italian) partnership for military and dual use space telecommunications.

About Thales Alenia Space

The European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups' Space Alliance . Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecommunications, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. With consolidated revenues of 2.1 billion euros in 2012, Thales Alenia Space has 7,500 employees in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and United States.

www.thalesaleniaspace.com

Thales Alenia Space Press Contacts:

Sandrine Bielecki - Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 70 94

sandrine.bielecki@thalesaleniaspace.com

Tarik Lahlou - Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 68 45

tarik.lahlou@thalesaleniaspace.com

LINK:	https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/athena-fi...
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