Today saw the signing, at the Fucino Space Centre, of the formal agreement to hand over the infrastructure for one of the control centres of the Galileo satellite constellation to Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company.

The loan for use agreement was signed by Alfredo Castiglione, councillor for productive activities and vice-president of the Regione Abruzzo; Lucio Magliozzi, chief operating officer of Telespazio; and Daniele Antinarella, extraordinary commissioner of the consortium for the industrial development of Avezzano, which built the infrastructure.

The control centre for the Galileo constellation and mission, co-financed by the Abruzzo region, covers an area of around 5,000 square metres, and was built thanks to a framework agreement signed in December 2005 between the Abruzzo region and Finmeccanica, aimed at encouraging the development and growth of industry in Abruzzo. The subsequent agreement signed in January 2007 between the region, the consortium for the industrial development of Avezzano and Telespazio, allowed work to begin and the infrastructure to be built on schedule.

With the formal handover of the control centre, Telespazio will begin cabling the entire structure, and will then proceed with the installation and integration of the systems and equipment required by the control system for the satellite constellation and mission. More particularly, work will begin on the areas dedicated to security, navigation signal generation systems, orbital management and atomic clocks (precise time facility or PTF). The control centre is expected to be fully operational and will be inaugurated in autumn 2009.

Galileo is the European satellite navigation system developed jointly by the European Union and the European Space Agency, and is the largest project ever developed by the European institutions. It will form the basis for a whole range of applications and services in sectors such as road, air, rail and sea transport, telecommunications, earth mapping/cartography, and gas/oil exploration and mining. Particular focus will be given to security and defence applications, such as the protection of ports,airports, railway stations and other sensitive locations, as well as to other important civil protection and rescue services for people and vehicles.

e-GEOS, the company created by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Telespazio (a Finmeccanica /Thales company) is fully operational today. The shareholders’ meeting of the company approved the capital increase of e-GEOS via the transfer of the earth observation division Telespazio and the rights to the commercial distribution of COSMO-SkyMed data ASI.

Following the transfers approved today, e-GEOS will have the know-how, operational staff and financial assets to be able to operate successfully on both the Italian and international markets.

e-GEOS (owned 80% by Telespazio and 20% by ASI), with main sites in Rome and Matera, aims to become a leading player in the geospatial information sector, with an integrated range of application solutions, content and services, based on radar and high-resolution optical data.

Specifically, thanks to the system’s unique and innovative characteristics, data acquired the radar satellites of the Italian COSMO-SkyMed constellation, which can operate in any atmospheric conditions with very frequent revisit times, will enable the company to offer operational monitoring services that up to now were impossible. The first three satellites of the COSMO-SkyMed constellation are already in orbit and operational. The launch of the fourth satellite is planned for 2010.

4C Controls Inc. and Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, today announced at the Paris-Le Bourget Air Show that, based on the principles established in the strategic alliance agreement signed by their respective affiliates 4C Satimage and e-GEOS in January 2009 for the commercialization of COSMO-SkyMed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data in the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia (MENASEA) region and in order to further strengthen their alliance, they are currently in discussion to enter into a joint investment in the areas of very high resolution (50 cm) optical satellite remote sensing and other strategic operational areas.

The Gulf Satellites program, which will be funded and owned mostly by investors of the Gulf region, foresees the development and construction of two high resolution (1m) SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites and a high resolution (0.5m) optical satellite.

Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, will be exhibiting 15 to 21 June at the 48th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, which is celebrating its centenary year.

As one of the world’s leading operators in satellite services, Telespazio will be exhibiting in the Finmeccanica stand its activities in the sectors of earth observation, integrated communications, navigation and space operations. In particular, the company will be illustrating its role in the Galileo, GMES, COSMO-SkyMed and SICRAL programmes, and will display its innovative services and applications in the fields of security, territorial management, emergency communications networks and telemedicine.

The Space Alliance, formed between Finmeccanica and Thales, in which Telespazio provides satellite services and applications and Thales Alenia Space supplies the manufacturing and systems, will have two exhibition areas at Le Bourget – one at the Finmeccanica stand and one at the Thales stand – to display the two companies’ common programmes.

Telespazio operates in France via its subsidiaries Telespazio France and Fileas, and through Novacom Services, in which it has a stake.