Thales Space Unit Wins a Satellite Order Briefing: PARIS

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture of the French defense contractor Thales and Finmeccanica of Italy, said Monday it had won a 229 million satellite order from the European Space Agency. Thales Alenia Space was chosen as the main contractor for the Sentinel-1 satellite, the first in a series of five that will observe the earth’s environment, Thales said in an e-mailed statement. The orbiter is scheduled for launching in 2011.

The satellite is part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program, or GMES, co-funded by the European Space Agency and the European Union, Thales said.

(c) 2007 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.