Telespazio Telespazio Spa is a European spaceflight services company founded in 1961. It is a joint venture owned by Leonardo (67%) and Thales Group (33%) headquartered in Rome. Telespazio provides services that include the design and development of space ...

Germany GmbH is a European

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

company, founded in 1978. The company provides consulting, technology and engineering services in aerospace missions for

ESOC The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) serves as the main mission control centre for the European Space Agency (ESA) and is located in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC's primary function is the operation of uncrewed spacecraft on behalf of ESA and ...

(European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt),

EUMETSAT The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by a current total of 30 European Member States. EUMETSAT's primary ...

(European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt) and the

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...

(DLR). Telespazio Germany is a subsidiary of

SpA. The Telespazio group is part of the Space Business Unit within Leonardo.

Office sites

Darmstadt (Hessen)

Headquarters is near the

European Space Operations Centre The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) serves as the main mission control centre for the European Space Agency (ESA) and is located in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC's primary function is the operation of uncrewed spacecraft on behalf of ESA and ...

(ESOC) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (

Gilching (Bavaria)

Office site in

Gilching Gilching is a municipality in the district of Starnberg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Starnberg, and 22 km west of Munich (centre). The quarters Argelsried, Neugilching and Geisenbrunn belong to the municipality o ...

, near the German Space Operations Centre(GSOC) in Oberpfaffenhofen/Weßling (Bavaria).

History

Telespazio Germany was established in 2012 when Telespazio Deutschland and VEGA Space GmbH were merged. The roots of Telespazio Deutschland may be traced back to the

Thomson CSF Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market. Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Hous ...

Group (now Thales), having been active in space missions since the early 1970s. VEGA, on the other hand, had its first contract with ESOC in 1978. So Telespazio Germany has around 40 years experience in spaceflight. * 2012: The German company VEGA Space GmbH merges with Telespazio Deutschland in Telespazio VEGA Deutschland * 2012: VEGA Space Ltd changes its name in Telespazio VEGA UK * 2011: VEGA Space becomes part of Telespazio * 2010: The German VEGA is split into two companies: VEGA Space GmbH and VEGA Deutschland * 2008: VEGA Group PLC is bought by

Finmeccanica Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the 12th largest ...

* 2007: VEGA Group acquires Anite Deutschland GmbH & Co KG in Köln. * 2005:

and

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

form the Space Alliance – merger between Telespazio and the space services division of Alcatel – Telespazio Deutschland is formedMcGraw-Hill: "Telespazio". Aviation Week & Space Technology 164:315, 2006, pp 1-10. * 2004: VEGA Group acquires Anite Systems GmbH * 2001: Thales acquires Alcatel Space * 2000: Thales acquires

* 1992: VEGA Group PLC floats on the London stock exchange * 1978: VEGA receives its first Operations Engineering contract with

* 1974: Alcatel Space receives first contract with

Missions and programs

Mission involvements

Programs

* HETEREX: Leading of the project HETEREX which was funded by BWT (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie), the project executing organisation was DLR. The project ended in 2013. * Space Data Routers: Leading of the group 4 "Link Layer Implementation" * Space Situational Awareness (SSA): Telespazio Germany (formerly VEGA Space) was rewarded with the initial hardware and software components of the Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem (Nordrhein-Westfalen). * EGS-CC – The European Ground Systems Common Corecontract was conducted by a consortium of 20 companies from ten European countries under the leadership of Telespazio Germany.

Shareholdings and memberships

Shareholdings

Telespazio Germany is a shareholder in Centre for Satellite Navigation in Hessen (cesah)

Memberships

Telespazio Germany is an active member in the following associations: * BavAIRia * Bundesverband der Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie * Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ortung und Navigation (DGON) * Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wehrtechnik (DWT) * Eurospace *

SpaceOps SpaceOps (also referred to as the International Committee on Technical Interchange for Space Mission Operations and Ground Data Systems) is an international committee organisation formed in 1992 to "promote and maintain an international community ...

Competences

Aerospace/space

Telespazio Germany supports and operates several spacecraft for

ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...

and DLR.

Aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

is the most important segment with more than 80% sales volume.

Civil aviation

Telespazio Germany works on programs with

Deutsche Flugsicherung Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is the company in charge of air traffic control for Germany. It is a company organized under private law and 100% owned by the Federal Republic of Germany. Since January 1993, DFS has been controlling air traffic in G ...

(DFS) and

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport ( ) , is Germany's busiest international airport by passenger numbers, located in Frankfurt, Germany's fifth-largest city. Its official name according to the German Aeronautical Information Publication is Frankfurt Main Airpor ...

. Up to 2013 the company led HETEREX-project.

Military aviation

Development of training systems for training of pilots and technicians as cockpit procedure trainer for the CH53-GA helicopter and a virtual maintenance trainer for helicopter NH90 /MRH90.

Applications

Development of applications for satellite-based positioning used by automatic precision guidance system in agriculture for

German Agricultural Society The German Agricultural Society (''Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft''), commonly known as DLG, is an international non-profit organisation serving the agricultural industry in Germany. DLG was founded in 1885 by Max Eyth, has over 23,000 membe ...

(Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft, commonly known as DLG) and

John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...

Also, Telespazio Germany has contributed to the project agriloc through its expertise in Satellite Communication, meaning the provision of reliable connectivity to

precision agriculture Precision agriculture (PA) is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual plant and animal data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated varia ...

applications of farms and

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the machine (mechanical), mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are list of agricultural machinery, many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractor ...

in the countryside. Agriloc is a project within the ARTES 20 ( Integrated Applications Promotion) programme, funded by the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

(ESA) and the

German Space Agency The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...

(DLR).

References

{{reflist, 30em Aerospace companies of Germany Leonardo S.p.A. Technology companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in West Germany Privately held companies of Germany Joint ventures Companies based in Hesse Darmstadt