Thales Alenia Space, j between Thales 67% e Leonardo 33%, signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the supply of a first group of 6 satellites small size based on SAR technology (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and a contract to supply 1 satellite based on optical technology of the Italian Earth Observation Constellation IRIS.
The satellites they will help provide data to researchers who study the evolution of the environmental conditions of our country but also to the Civil Protection and other public administrations to guarantee the protection of the coasts, the monitoring of critical infrastructures, the quality of the air and the meteorological conditions, the data provided by Iride they will be precious. Such data will also be able to ensure the development of commercial applications by startups, small and medium-sized enterprises and industries in the geo-spatial sector, the company explains in a statement.
236 million total contract value
The agreement reached relating to the 6 SAR satellites has a value of 112 million euros and includes aoption for a second group of 4 additional satellites for a value of 75 million euros. Finally, regarding the optical satellite contract the value is of 30 million of euros, with a option for a additional satellite of 19 million. Both sets of satellites use the platform, innovative and modular NIMBUS (New Italian Micro Bus) of about 170 KG. NIMBUS is a high-performance Thales Alenia Space product, developed quickly for constellations with high revisitation and high production capacity.
Thales Alenia Space satellites will be made in Italy contribution of the SME network of the space sector. The creation of this constellation of satellites will guarantee a high revisit time by providing data that can be integrated both with those of already existing and future deployment infrastructures such as second generation COSMO SkyMed and Prisma, as well as from European programs such as Copernicus, for the observation and earth protection.
“Special thanks go to the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency for once again believing in the skills and experience of Thales Alenia Space. We are really pleased to participate, together with the supply chain of the space world, in one new challenge to serve the needs of the country which will certainly pave the way forfurther development of our capabilities and of the country in the design and production of satellites also in the interesting segment of small satellites at the service of the development of the space economy" he declared Massimo Claudio Comparini, Chief Executive Officer of Thales Alenia Space Italy.
The Iride project born thanks to the resources of the Pnrr
Iris is a project born on initiative of the Italian government thanks to resources of the PNRR which will be completed by 2026 under the ESA management in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). It's about a hybrid constellation composed of satellites of different classes with dedicated earth observation sensors; an end-to-end system made up of a set of sub-constellations of satellites in low orbit (Low Earth Orbit), the operational ground infrastructure (Downstream) and services for the Italian Public Administration. Based on a different set of detection tools and technologies, the IRIS constellation will range from microwave imaging with radar to optical sensors at various spatial resolutions and in different frequency ranges, thus becoming a cutting-edge space program in Earth Observation.
