Cannes - January 14th 2014 - Bertrand Maureau, 49, has been named Vice President, Telecommunications Business Line, at Thales Alenia Space, effective January 1, 2014. He replaces Nathalie Smirnov, who will move to a new position.

A 1987 graduate of the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures engineering school in Paris, Bertrand Maureau started his career the following year with Dassault Aviation. From 1985 to 1988, following an initial position as mechanical and thermal engineer on the Hermes spaceplane program, he was named head of satellite design and development, then took responsibility for preparing Mirage 2000 production for Taiwan. He joined Thales Alenia Space in 1995. Based in Toulouse, he held different telecom project management positions, prior to being named program director in 2000. Bertrand Maureau was subsequently named director of the telecom payload business in 2005, then deputy director of the telecom systems and missions division in 2007. Two years later, he was appointed head of AIT (Assembly, Integration, Testing) at Thales Alenia Space's plant in Rome. From October 2011 until this latest appointment, Bertrand Maureau was director of the Iridium Next program.

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