Thales Alenia Space @ the European Space Expo

HDTV, 4G, broadband Internet… welcome to the world of satellite communications!
Climate change: the Space Sentinels

Another topic spotlighted at the exhibition is of course climate change. Whether monitoring land, sea or air, satellites provide a key contribution to the data that underpins the models used to predict the impact of climate change. This data has become increasingly accurate over the years, enabling us to better understand our climate, including how it changes and possible long-term impacts. The European environmental monitoring program Copernicus is one of the stars of this exhibition. Thales Alenia Space is prime contractor for the Sentinel-1 and 3 missions (each including four identical satellites), responsible for the ground segment on the Sentinel-2 mission, and also supplies several instruments for Sentinel-6, making it a major partner in this program that provides invaluable input to European decision-makers. More info, click here.
From “Venus in Furs” to “Is there Life on Mars?”: the unlimited possibilities of space exploration

Two major missions with Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, one scientific, one exploration, are being highlighted during the exhibition: Herschel/Planck (2009), considered to be one of the leading space observatories ever developed in Europe; and of course ExoMars. Europe’s Mars exploration mission has been front-page news in recent months. The 2016 mission is already en route for the Red Planet, and the second mission has been confirmed for launch in 2020.
The aim of this two-pronged mission is to answer the question asked by David Bowie in his avant-garde album from 1971, Hunky Dory: “Is there Life on Mars?” What was only science fiction in the early seventies will become a reality in the coming years, as we begin to get concrete answers about the possibility of life on Mars. These two exploration missions will study the Martian atmosphere, and then the planet’s soil in the second mission, to discover any traces of life … and help answer a question that people have asked since time immemorial: are we alone in the Universe? Are there extraterrestrial forms of life? One of the first measurements will be to detect traces of methane, an essential component of life, and then to determine if it’s of biological or geological origin. Subsequently, the mission will search for sub-surface bacteria, enabling us to perhaps finally state, “Yes, there is life on Mars!”
ExoMars is the latest step in a long-term exploration process that will probably lead to humans taking their first step on the Red Planet. The first manned flights to Mars could start towards 2030-2040 – and Thales Alenia Space is already gearing up for these missions by carrying out advanced tests in its labs in Turin, Italy. In the meantime, the world is holding its breath while awaiting the 2016 ExoMars mission’s arrival in Mars orbit later this year. On October 19, 2016, the Schiaparelli descent module is scheduled to land on Mars. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you informed on all the latest developments in this exciting interplanetary voyage. More info, click here