Thales Alenia Space was honored to welcome a seven-person delegation from Brazil from February 22 to 25, headed by André Figueiredo, Minister of Communications, and including Jorge Bittar and Paulo Kapp, the Chairman and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Telebras, respectively. After visiting the clean rooms at Cannes and Toulouse, the delegation talked with the Brazilian interns who have joined the SGDC program team at Thales Alenia Space, within the scope of the company’s skills transfer plan with Brazil. Undergoing an intensive 24-month training program, these interns come from institutions such as Telebras, AEB, INPE* and the Brazilian Ministry of Defense. They are participating in the entire design and construction process for Brazil’s new SGDC communications satellite, working closely with Thales Alenia Space’s French teams.

Thales Alenia Space was chosen in 2013 to build the SGDC telecom satellite for Visiona (a subsidiary of Telebras and Embraer). At the same time, Thales Alenia Space signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning an ambitious technology transfer plan with the Brazilian space agency AEB.

As part of the technology transfer plan, Brazilian companies are expected to provide equipment “Made in Brazil” for the follow-on satellite, SGDC-2. The aim for Thales Alenia Space is to help its Brazilian partners move up the skills chain, so that the country can develop a viable space program, and ensure its independence and national sovereignty in the medium term.

* INPE: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais