Thales Awarded Contracts for its Line of Telecom Systems in the 1st Months of 2011

• The company, a leader in Telecommunication Systems and equipments within the Spanish space sector, reinvests 35% of its sales into the national industry.

In the first months of this year Thales Alenia Space Espana has received contracts from European and American companies worth more than 9 million Euros for Telecommunication satellites, an area in which the company is well-known for being the leader in the Spanish market. These contracts are focused on the development and supply of TT&C data communication systems and radiofrequency equipment, for civil and military communication,payloads, specifically for the satellites Optus-10, O3B, W3D, Arsat-2, Sicral-2, Express AT1, AT2 and AM8, Athena Fidus and Yenisei.

Thales Alenia Space Espana is a Spanish company focused in the development of Space Systems and equipment for Telecommunication, Earth Observation, Science, Navigation and Space Infrastructure.

In the field of communications systems and equipment, Thales Alenia Space Espana is currently working in over 60 projects world's space agencies and commercial companies worth more than EUR 30 million, both civil and military telecommunications programs. Thales Alenia Space Espana exports more than 90% of its sales, invests 5% of its incomes in R&D (2.5 times the average of the Space sector) with a total activity of R & D equivalent of 10% of their income, employing more than 40 engineers dedicated exclusively to R&D.

Thales Alenia Space Espana leads the Spanish space sector of space telecommunications, with the largest number of systems and equipment supplied and currently in flight, and reinvests more than one third of the amount of their sales in buying products produced nationally, helping the development and the strengthening of the Spanish space industry and a sustainable fabric of SMEs. In addition, is global market leader in S-Band TTC communications systems and equipments, is a pioneer in the development of systems for broadband multimedia communications, and Europe's leading supplier and second global supplier of radiofrequency equipment for telecommunication payloads.

Juan Garces de Marcilla, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space Espana, said: "We are satisfied with the development of the international competition in the market, permitting us to continue our collaboration with space agencies world-wide and with the best companies of the sector. This allows us to the strenghtening our leadership on the development and production of telecommunication systems and of TT&C, placing us at the vanguard of communication technology for civil and military satellites".

Source : Thales Group (Paris: HO.PA)