Telespazio - joint venture owned by XMUMX% by Finmeccanica and 67% by Thales - was awarded at the end of 33 the EUMETSAT tender for the supply of launch and in-orbit services (LEOP: Launch and Early Orbit Phase) for two satellites - with an option for a third - of the new constellation Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), which will guarantee high resolution meteorological observations and support scientific research on climate change.
Telespazio will lead an industrial team that sees the participation, among others, of Thales Alenia Space France, already prime contractor for the realization of the satellites of the MTG program.
Il Fucino Space Center of Telespazio will be responsible for the preparation and execution of the flight operations of the satellites, the development of the LEOP control center, the software for flight dynamics and the preparation, validation and operational coordination of a network of six ground stations in S-band.
The third-generation Meteosat program includes two separate satellite lines (imaging and sounding) and will be operational in the 2020-2040 period to support high-impact weather forecasts for Europe and Africa in real time. The observation satellites (imaging) will have the new sensor on board Lightning Imager, made by Avionics and Space Systems Division of Finmeccanica (operational as of January 1st 2016 as part of the Finmeccanica Group's divisionalization process) for the meteorological service of the Italian Air Force.
EUMETSAT had assigned two contracts to Telespazio in the MTG program in the 2014. The first for the design, implementation and maintenance of the Ka-band receiving stations of the Mission Data Acquisition Facility (MDAF) mission data, to be installed at the Lario teleport (Como) and the Leuk teleport (Switzerland), operated by Signalhorn . The second for the development, supply and maintenance of the telemetry stations and the "Telemetry, Tracking and Command" (TTC) S-band command, to be installed at the Fucino Space Center and the Cheia teleport (Romania).
The total value of the contracts assigned to Telespazio in the 2014 and 2015 is 29 million.
