Alcatel Alenia Space enjoyed an exceptional year in 2006, signing contracts for the construction of 57 communications and observation satellites, including three for defense applications. With this new record, Alcatel Alenia Space becomes the world's leading satellite company in terms of orders.
World leader in communications satellite orders
– Alcatel Alenia Space signed contracts for eight geostationary (GEO) communications satellites, giving it 30% of the market: Turksat 3A for Turksat AS, AMC-21 and Ciel-2 pour SES Americom, two Satcom BW satellites for the German Ministry of Defense, W2A (pictured) and W7 for Eutelsat, and SICRAL-1B for the Italian Ministry of Defense. The company also signed a 661 million euro contract with Globalstar to supply a constellation of 48 second-generation low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
– In the payload market, Alcatel Alenia Space signed the BADR-6 contract as well as contracts for Express MD-1 and MD-2, to be built by Krunichev for Russian operator RSCC, giving it one-third of the commercial market.
Earth observation and science missions
Alcatel Alenia Space confirmed its global expertise in radar observation during 2006:
– Kompsat-5 contract with KARI to supply the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for the largest spaceborne Earth observation program in South Korea.
– Siral-2 radar altimeter, to be used on the CryoSat-2 mission to monitor the thickness of land and sea ice.
– Contract for the fourth radar satellite in the COSMO-SkyMed constellation, designed for dual use by the Italian ministry of defense and space agency.
For science applications, Alcatel Alenia Space was chosen by the European Space Agency to carry out a preliminary ExoMars study. This mission is designed to send a probe to Mars to discover possible traces of life – past or present. The total budget for this mission is estimated at more than 600 million euros.
Alcatel Alenia Space onboard 14 launches of all types in 2006
