France in Space #301
1: NEW MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE FOR EADS
2: ALCATEL AND FINMECCANICA COMPLETE THE MERGER OF THEIR SPACE DIVISIONS
3: H. BUCHWALTER TAKES THE LEAD OF SPOT IMAGE
4: AGREEMENT SIGNED FOR EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS ON CHANDRAYAAN-1
5: FRANCE TELECOM AND INMARSAT TEAM UP TO DEPLOY BGAN
6: IN BRIEF
** 1: NEW MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE FOR EADS
Following the nomination of Noel Forgeard and Thomas Enders as new Co-CEOs of EADS, a new structure of management has been set up within the space division. Evert Dudok becomes EADS Space Transportation’s new President. He replaces Josef Kind, who is retiring. Previously Senior Vice-President of the Earth Observation, Navigation & Science business unit and Chairman of Galileo Industries S.A., Evert Dudok made an influential contribution to the European Galileo satellite navigation program. Reinhold Lutz will replace him at the head of the Earth Observation, Navigation & Science business unit of EADS Astrium. The EADS Space chief François Auque will directly report to co-CEO Noel Forgeard. The new management team will have to face some difficulties in the space sector. François Auque has expressed his concerns about the possible loss of technical expertise in 2006 due to a lack of new European programs. [EADS Space 07/01/2005, L’Usine Nouvelle 06/30/2005, Aviation Week 07/04/2005]
** 2: ALCATEL AND FINMECCANICA COMPLETE THE MERGER OF THEIR SPACE DIVISIONS
The merger of the space divisions of Alcatel and Finmeccanica was completed July 1st with the formation of the satellite manufacturer Alcatel Alenia Space and the satellite services company Telespazio.
Pascale Sourisse, previously President and CEO of Alcatel Space, will hold the position of President and CEO of Alcatel Alenia Space, while Giorgio Zappa, former Chief Operating Officer of Finmeccanica, will chair the supervisory board.
Giuseppe Veredice of Finmeccanica becomes Telespazio’s CEO with Olivier Houssin, Executive Vice President of Alcatel and President of its Private Communications Group, holding the position of Chairman of the boards of directors. [Alcatel 07/01/2005]
** 3: H. BUCHWALTER TAKES THE LEAD OF SPOT IMAGE
Hervé Buchwalter has recently been appointed Chairman of the Toulouse-based society Spot Image. His predecessor Jean-Marc Nasr will pursue his activities within EADS space telecommunications activities after 4 years at the head of Spot Image.
Hervé Buchwalter was previously responsible for the export acquisition process within the EADS Astrium’s department for Earth Observation, Navigation and Science. He was especially involved in major export contracts such as the ROCSAT-2 program with Taiwan, the Kompsat-2 and COMS satellites for Korea as well as the Theos spacecraft for Thailand.
Hervé Buchwalter has highlighted the remarkable work of his predecessor, based on a successful commercial strategy which allows Spot Image to play a prominent role in the worldwide Earth Observation market. H. Buchwalter aims at strengthening this position with the arrival of new satellites in Spot Image’s portfolio, such as Formosat-2, Theos and TerraSAR-X as well as developing new international partnerships. He also stated that Spot Image will closely work with CNES to prepare in-orbit operations and data distribution of the French military Pleiades optical imaging system, to be launched in 2008-2009. [Spot Image 07/04/2005]
** 4: AGREEMENT SIGNED FOR EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS ON CHANDRAYAAN-1
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an agreement June 27 for including European instruments on board India’s first scientific mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1. The Chandrayaan-1 launch is planned around 2007 on board India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The spacecraft is to be placed in 100-kilometers polar orbit around the Moon with a planned service life of two years.
Under the agreement, Europe would provide three instruments: the Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer from the U.K’s Rutherford Appleton laboratory to analyse the composition of the lunar surface, a near-infrared spectrometer from Germany’s Max Planck Institute to detect and measure lunar mineral abundance and a sub-keV atom reflecting analyser from Swedish Institute of Space Physics, jointly developed with India, to determine the lunar magnetic field anomalies and measure volatiles generated by the solar activity on the lunar surface. In addition, Europe will contribute to the hardware for the High-Energy X-ray Spectrometer. These instruments are similar to those of the European SMART-1 spacecraft, which was launched in 2003 and has recently started its scientific mission around the Moon. [ESA 07/01/2005]
** 5: FRANCE TELECOM AND INMARSAT TEAM UP TO DEPLOY BGAN
France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications is working closely with Inmarsat in the development phase of the upcoming BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) service. The two actors have worked closely together at a technical level to conduct tests on the first BGAN terminals, in order to launch the new mobile internet service by the end of the year. Their common goal is to offer a solution combining broadband and mobility, better answering to the needs of various customers (non-governmental organisations, army, media as well as oil, gas and mining industrialists). The next step for France Telecom will be the transfer of its regional capacities on the new Inmarsat4 satellite in August. Following the launch of the second Inmarsat satellite in October, the broadband BGAN will be available from next November providing transfer rates up to 492 KBit/s. [spacedaily.com 07/04/2005]
** 6: IN BRIEF
Shin Satellite, a major satellite operator form Thailand, has awarded a contract to Alcatel Space to design and build the Thaicom 5 communications satellite, to be delivered in the second quarter of 2006. This 100 million dollar- spacecraft, to be launched in 2006, will replace Thaicom 1 and Thaicom 2, which are due to be retired in 2008 and 2009 respectively. It will allow the operator to expand its Ku-Band channels offering services over Thailand as well as in the neighbouring countries. [Alcatel 07/01/2005]
The launch of the Thaicom4/IPSTAR communications satellite onboard an Ariane 5 launcher, initially scheduled for July 11, is delayed by several days due to an anomaly on ground equipment. [Arianespace 07/06/2005]
France in Space will not be published next week. The next issue will be published July 20.
France In Space is a weekly synthesis of French space activities based on French press. Its content does not reflect an official position of the French Government or CNES. It is provided by the CNES office and the Office of Science and Technology of the French Embassy in Washington D.C Editors: Jean-Jacques Tortora, Clémence Le Fèvre
France In Space is available online at http://www.france-science.org/france-in-space you will find there the current issue, the subscription and un-subscription forms, as well as the archives with a search engine.
To subscribe/unsubscribe, please go to http://lists.ambafrance-us.org/mailman/listinfo/list-france-in-space
About CNES
“CNES develops and leads national space programmes. The main thrust of its action is to serve France’s ambition to sustain a strong space capability and contribute to scientific discovery at the highest levels. CNES is committed to fostering innovative space technologies that meet the current and future needs of society. Most programmes are pursued in cooperation with international partners. CNES also plays a central role in programmes initiated by ESA, the European Space Agency, to which it is a major contributor. It is thus a driving force behind ESA programmes and activities”.
List-france-in-space mailing list
List-france-in-space@ambafrance-us.org
http://lists.ambafrance-us.org/mailman/listinfo/list-france-in-space
