Thales Alenia Space Led Consortium of Companies Signs Pact with Italian Space Agency for an In-Orbit Servicing Mission

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has won a €235 million contract from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to design, develop and qualify a spacecraft for a dedicated In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) demonstration mission. Thales Alenia Space is leading a Temporary Grouping of Companies regrouping Leonardo, Telespazio, Avio and D-Orbit.

The mission will be developed in the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with support from the Italian Space Agency. The demonstration mission will operate in low Earth orbit (LEO) and is set to be launched by 2026

A growing number of satellites are now circling the Earth to meet a wide range of requirements, from geolocation and connectivity, to weather forecasts, environmental monitoring and much more. Thales Alenia Space is therefore developing in-orbit servicing solutions to address the evolving needs of satellites in orbit.