From June 16 to 22, our experts will be at the Paris Air Show to present all our wide range of technologies for environmental monitoring, national space sovereignty, bridging the digital divide and connectivity for all, not forgetting solutions for geolocation, science and space exploration.

Space to observe and protect

What would life be like in a world without Earth-observation systems? For several decades, Earth observing satellites — for oceanography, weather forecasting and environmental monitoring — have been our vital eyes in the sky. They provide the science community with the crucial data they need for understanding the climate phenomena affecting our planet. At the Paris Air Show, we’ll be showcasing a number of major programs, among them Copernicus, Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography), and Carb-Chaser, a project to deploy the first-ever French constellation designed to detect human-induced CO₂ emissions.

Copernicus — serving Europe’s environmental monitoring

Copernicus © Thales Alenia Space

The European Commission’s Copernicus environmental monitoring program is the most ambitious of its kind in the world, with 12 families of satellites surveying Earth, its topography, seas, lakes, oceans, and polar regions. Copernicus missions also include climatology payloads for measuring human-induced CO2 and new applications for protecting biodiversity and fostering sustainable farming. This large-scale program will help Europe predict the impacts of global warming so we can better safeguard our planet. The satellites and ground segments are built by European prime contractors for the European Space Agency (ESA). Thales Alenia Space is a major contributor to 11 of the program’s 12 missions.

Last December, the Sentinel-1C Earth-observation satellite was successfully launched by Arianespace. It’s scheduled to be joined in orbit by Sentinel-1D — currently being readied at our plant in Cannes — in 2025. This year, we’ll be delivering to OHB the payload for the first CO2M satellite, whose mission is to analyze human-induced CO₂ emissions. In January, ESA ordered a third satellite from OHB, for which Thales Alenia Space will be supplying the payload, as for the two previous satellites. In addition to CO2M, we’re also working on other programs to monitor CO₂ emissions.

Complementary CO₂ monitoring missions

CO2M © OHB

Carb-Chaser will operate in synergy with existing European programs dedicated to measuring carbon emissions, such as MicroCarb and CO2M. While MicroCarb (scheduled to launch this year) is a scientific mission to assess CO₂ fluxes on a global scale, and CO2M will measure human-induced CO₂ on a regional scale, Carb-Chaser will monitor local-scale emissions. Carb-Chaser data will also be used in conjunction with data from the CO2M program to compile atmospheric inventories and track progress toward climate goals.

These three missions, while distinct, will complement and feed into each other to provide a global, integrated picture of carbon emissions and support international efforts to reduce the impact of human activities on the climate.

Meteorology 3.0 with Meteosat Third Generation

MTGI 1 © Mathieu Persan

With Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) program — composed of four imaging satellites (MTG-I) and two atmospheric sounding satellites (MTG-S) — is designed to revolutionize modern meteorology by increasing the accuracy of weather forecasts.

Launched in 2022, MTG-I1 beamed back its first images of Earth in 2023, surpassing the performance of previous Meteosat generations. The MTG-I satellites also feature a Lightning Imager (LI), while the MTG-S satellites can map the atmosphere in 3D.

Built by OHB, the first atmospheric sounding satellite, MTG-S1, is set for launch this summer. Once all six MTG satellites are in orbit, EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) will offer the most sophisticated weather forecasting services in the world.

SWOT — delving deeper into oceans, lakes and rivers

SWOT © Thales Alenia Space/ ImagIN

Thales Alenia Space is also a global leader in satellite altimetry. Our radar altimeters are flying on the world’s most important oceanography satellites. The most recently launched (in 2023) is the French-American SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite, set to revolutionize oceanography and continental hydrology. The satellite for this joint program by NASA and the French space agency CNES was built by Thales Alenia Space as lead industrial partner and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This masterpiece of technology monitors 90% of the planet’s surface waters, delivering an unprecedented picture of the world’s oceans, lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

SWOT also features a controlled reentry subsystem to avert debris at the end of its life — underlining our clear commitment to making space more sustainable.

Stratobus: midway between a satellite and a drone

Stratobus © Thales Alenia Space/ Briot

Also making the trip to the Paris Air Show is Stratobus, an airship packed with innovations. Ideally complementing conventional satellites, this autonomous multi-mission stratospheric platform is in a way the missing link between the drone and the satellite. Designed for regional missions, the airship flies at an altitude of 20 kilometers, above jet streams and air traffic. It’s aimed at regional civil and military communications, navigation and observation applications.

Stratobus is a ground-breaking technology that doesn’t require a launcher. It will serve armed forces and emergency management agencies, offering a continuous regional presence. As the ideal complement to the Copernicus space-based monitoring program, Stratobus will also support environmental surveillance applications, notably pollution monitoring and wildfire detection.

Space to connect

Three tailored product lines for operators

Space INSPIRE © Thales Alenia Space/ Briot

Through its different product lines, Thales Alenia Space offers custom-tailored solutions that meet the emerging expectations of the telecommunications market. From satellites based on the Spacebus 4000 B2 platform, well suited to regional operators, to the Spacebus NEO family, the foundation of very high throughput satellites (VHTS) that enhance connectivity around the world, and Space INSPIRE, our latest all-digital and reconfigurable in-orbit product line, Thales Alenia Space delivers tailored connectivity and mobility solutions to operators to help bridge the digital divide and improve global communications.

Thales Alenia Space is also the first company in the world to offer fully digital processing for terabit-class payloads. And we’re the only satellite manufacturer to propose payloads with powerful fifth-generation — and soon sixth-generation — digital processors.

Constellations and a multi-orbit approach

With three constellations already to its credit, Thales Alenia Space is among the world leaders in operational constellations, serving requirements in both medium and low Earth orbit.

Telecom satellites are crucial for connectivity and sovereignty. Operators appear to be adopting a multi-orbit model combining the advantages of GEO, MEO and LEO, and the multi-use concept also has established itself in the constellation arena. The flexibility to reconfigure satellites in orbit is now a priority for the world’s leading operators. And besides commercial requirements already identified, governments are starting to incorporate these solutions in their plans, as shown by the European Union’s flagship IRIS2 constellation project or ESA’s LEO-PNT project to enhance the performance, precision and integrity of the Galileo satellite-based navigation constellation.

Space to secure and defend

A number of countries have called on Thales Alenia Space to supply their military or dual (civil-military) communications systems aimed at supporting troops in the field. We also supply state-of-the-art optical and radar payloads, featuring high or very-high resolution, for today’s Earth observation systems, designed for advanced monitoring and surveillance missions, as well as constellation solutions delivering precision and high revisit rates that combine best-in-class optical and radar technologies with a multifunction ground segment.

High revisit rates for near-real-time surveillance

IRIDE © Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space has leveraged this expertise in optical and radar Earth-observation systems, and in telecom constellations, to address new space situational awareness and high-revisit Earth Observation markets.

For example, we’re building 12 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites and a high-precision optical satellite for Italy’s IRIDE Earth-observation constellation. Employing various instruments and remote-sensing technologies, from microwave imaging to optical sensors at different resolutions and operating in various frequency ranges, IRIDE is set to be a pioneer in space-based Earth observation. Supported by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and led by the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with the Italian space agency ASI, this program will offer unrivaled prospects for monitoring Earth’s environment and managing its resources sustainably.

Thales Alenia Space has also launched its avant-garde ALL-IN-ONE Earth-observation solution, combining optical and radar microsatellites to guarantee high revisit rates and control capabilities for near-real-time surveillance day and night, in all weathers. We secured our first order for this highly innovative solution from Indonesia in 2023.

New sovereignty challenges in Europe and worldwide

ALL-IN-ONE © Thales Alenia Space

With the return of high-intensity conflicts in Europe, we’re seeing new requirements emerge, especially for defense-related telecoms, Earth observation and satellite-based navigation solutions. In recent months, a number of Asian, Middle Eastern and South American countries have turned to European space manufacturers for systems and resources geared to strengthening their space sovereignty.

ALL-IN-ONE is without doubt a key surveillance solution for nations and governments across the globe looking to bolster their sovereignty in space.

IRIS2 constellation eagerly awaited

The future IRIS2 secure telecoms constellation will be the new standard bearer for Europe’s autonomous and sovereign space capability.

This system will comprise 282 satellites — 264 in low Earth orbit (1,200 km) and 18 in medium Earth orbit (8,000 km) — communicating with each other via optical inter-satellite links and a multi-orbit approach.
IRIS2 is set to provide secure government communication services for civil protection and emergency management agencies, security and defense communications, and commercial B2B services.

Besides providing connectivity, IRIS2 will be the backbone of other space-based Earth-observation and navigation infrastructures in Europe, and will serve as a data transmission relay.

This dual-use system features groundbreaking technology, with total control over data and an unprecedented level of security geared to respond to today’s cybersecurity challenges. Offering native 5G capability, IRIS2 will employ payloads with active antennas to ensure precise pointing and maximum signal power over specific regions of interest.

With three constellations to its credit and new technologies already in the pipeline, Thales Alenia Space is ready to devote the full range of its expertise to this program, which is vital to Europe’s sovereignty and independence in space.

Space to travel and navigate

Galileo Second Generation © Thales Alenia Space

At the forefront of satellite navigation systems in Europe, Thales Alenia Space is prime contractor for the current EGNOS system. We also provide the ground segments for two generations of Galileo constellations and are building six of the twelve satellites for the Galileo Second Generation constellation.

We’re also the only manufacturer deploying satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) in export markets, harnessing the technological experience acquired through EGNOS, with KASS in South Korea and in Africa through our partnership with ASECNA. In addition, we supplied a system to KARI, the Korean space agency, operational since early 2024, to provide safety-of-life services for aeronautical applications.
At the same time, we’re deploying several MEOLUT Next ground stations to provide search-and-rescue services in a number of nations.

Our teams are also working with ESA on a comprehensive solution for the LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Positioning Navigation and Timing) orbital demonstrator. This constellation will operate alongside Galileo and other satellite-based navigation systems to guarantee centimeter geolocation accuracy, robustness, jamming resistance and anti-spoofing, as well as low latency. LEO-PNT will address emerging applications like high-autonomy vehicles (offering continuous coverage in dense urban areas), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and maritime unmanned systems (MUS), and synchronization of terrestrial 5G/6G telecoms networks.

Geolocation serving the Internet of Things

Kineis © Thales Alenia Space - Kinéis - HEMERIA

Thales Alenia Space has leveraged its expertise in constellations and navigation systems to address new markets requiring new navigation and geolocation capabilities, such as Kineis, the first European constellation dedicated to the Internet of things (IoT).

With Kineis, “notspots” will be a thing of the past, as the system will cover 100% of the globe, including the 85% not currently served by terrestrial networks. The constellation supports near-real-time, low-power and low-data-rate transmission for connected objects anywhere in the world. Thales Alenia Space is the system architect and payload supplier for this constellation of 25 nanosatellites, all successfully launched between mid-2024 and early 2025.

Moonlight: a future telecoms and navigation network around the Moon

For the Moon to become an advanced staging post for space exploration, it must first be equipped with reliable and secure navigation and communication infrastructures. This is the aim of ESA’s Moonlight program, for which Thales Alenia Space is developing the space segment of the satellite-based navigation system. This cislunar network will support real-time communication between Earth and crewed or robotic missions on the lunar surface, precise navigation for rovers and astronauts, and uninterrupted connectivity.

Space to explore

Thales Alenia Space’s expertise in space exploration, space transportation systems and orbital infrastructures is world renowned. For instance, our technologies are flying aboard iconic international missions exploring the Solar System, and the Huygens probe, which made history 20 years ago by landing on one of Saturn’s moons, was built by our company.

Today, we’re well placed to meet the future requirements of lunar and Martian exploration, working alongside space agencies and our partners in Europe, the United States and around the world.

Unrivaled technological track record and world leadership in pressurized modules

Cupola © ESA / NASA

Did you know that Thales Alenia Space built half of the pressurized volume on the International Space Station (ISS), including its emblematic Cupola, an observation module offering a 360° view of Earth, and the structure of the Columbus laboratory? What’s more, we provided all of the Cygnus pressurized cargo modules that resupplied the station twice a year with food, water, spares, oxygen and scientific experiments for its crews. Building on this unmatched know-how, Thales Alenia Space has secured several more contracts to supply other pressurized modules in low Earth orbit, notably for lunar exploration. We will also be present on the Moon with the Argonaut lander, which will ferry freight on the surface, and the Multi-Purpose Habitat module, the first lunar staging post set to accommodate astronauts in a safe and comfortable environment. In addition, Thales Alenia Space has been selected to build four navigation satellites that will orbit the Moon for the Moonlight program. At the same time, our teams are working on the first three modules of Axiom Space’s future commercial space station.

Exploring the solar system

From the Sun to Saturn, and from Mercury to Venus, Mars and Jupiter, our solutions have embarked on every space odyssey to seek new insights into the universe’s best-guarded secrets, fueling decades of scientific research in the process. We’ve also hitched a ride on missions of discovery to asteroids and comets…

These exceptional missions are too numerous to list here. Instead, we’ve decided to spotlight a few major programs, like ExoMars for Mars exploration, Euclid studying dark matter and dark energy, and EnVision to explore Venus.

Is there life on Mars?

ExoMars © Thales Alenia Space

One of the highlights of 2024 was the signing of a contract with ESA for the ExoMars 2028 mission. While the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has been gravitating for several years now around the red planet’s atmosphere, this second mission will survey its surface in search of traces of life — a quest that’s long fascinated humankind. The mission comprises a transfer module, a descent module and a landing platform carrying the Rosalind Franklin rover. One of its objectives will be to detect any living or fossilized bacteria that could be evidence of past or present life on Mars. Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the overall ExoMars program.

Exceptional science missions

Euclid © Thales Alenia Space & © ESA

By surveying billions of galaxies over a timescale of more than 10 billion light-years, i.e. more than a third of the celestial vault, the Euclid space telescope is set to lift the veil on the mysteries of the cosmos. Launched in 2023, this space science mission is studying dark energy and dark matter to determine what’s driving the universe’s continued expansion and why it’s accelerating. We built this spacecraft as prime contractor for ESA.

More recently, Thales Alenia Space signed a contract with ESA to build the EnVision spacecraft, which will probe the secrets of Venus. This mission will provide a broad picture of the planet and its core and upper atmosphere to find out how and why Venus and Earth have taken such different evolutionary paths.

Envision © Thales Alenia Space/ Briot

On-orbit servicing to extend satellite life

Thales Alenia Space is developing a new solution set to be a talking point in the years ahead — on-orbit servicing vehicles. These highly versatile spacecraft will have the capability to perform robotic tasks and rendezvous in space. They’ll be able to conduct a wide range of tasks directly in orbit, including repairs, maintenance, refueling, inspection and de-orbiting of space debris. The goal is to extend the service life of satellites to limit propagation of such debris — a disruptive approach intended to make space more sustainable.

Want to know more about what we do? Come talk to us at the Thales pavilion!