Telespazio

Telespazio Spa is a European spaceflight services joint venture between Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (67%) and the French technology corporation Thales Group (33%). It forms one half of the Space Alliance along with Thales Alenia Space which is also owned by Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%).

Telespazio provides services that include the design and development of space systems, the management of launch services and in-orbit satellite control, Earth observation services, integrated communications, satellite navigation and localization and scientific programmes. The company manages space infrastructure, such as the Fucino Space Centre - and is involved in programmes including Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, COSMO-SkyMed, SICRAL and Göktürk.

Telespazio operates in France as Telespazio France; in Germany as Telespazio Germany, GAF and Spaceopal; in the United Kingdom as Telespazio UK; in Spain as Telespazio Ibérica; and in Romania as Rartel. Telespazio operates in South America through Telespazio Brasil and Telespazio Argentina. In Italy, the company is also present through e-GEOS.

Plans have been announced to merge Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, and the Space Systems and Space Digital divisions of Airbus Defence and Space into a new joint venture owned by Airbus (35%), Leonardo (32.5%), and Thales (32.5%). The combined entity would have had an estimated annual turnover of €6.5 billion. If approved by regulators, the new company is expected to be operational in 2027.