Thales Alenia Space and NPO-PM strengthen their position by announcing today that they are about to finalize an industrial cooperation program concerning the development of a multi-mission satellite platform. Thales Alenia Space, a major payload provider for the Russian telecom satellite market, and NPO-PM are closely working on a joint program to cooperate on the development and building of a new multi-mission satellite platform optimized for a direct injection in the Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) and able of High-Elliptical Orbit (HEO) missions.
This platform, named Express-4000, will enable both companies to reinforce their leading position in Russia.
Based on a Thales Alenia Space's Spacebus 4000 technology, Express-4000 will incorporate a large range of Russian equipments and subsystems and will embark a Thales Alenia Space payload. This high-capacity Express-4000 satellite will be commercialized by NPO-PM as prime contractor and will be Proton compatible. Express-4000 satellites will be built and integrated in Russia in NPO-PM's facilities.
Furthermore, Thales Alenia Space and NPO-PM are working on an industrial plan aiming at buying from Russian suppliers common equipments for the Spacebus 4000 and Express-4000 series. This industrial plan will contribute to a significant improvement of the competitiveness of the Spacebus 4000 platform on the worldwide market.
Pascale Sourisse, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space states: "This extended cooperation with NPO-PM and the Russian industry is a major step for the telecom satellite market and Thales Alenia Space's strategy. This common approach demonstrates the confidence and trust between our two companies, which is based on a strong heritage of cooperation and success. We are proud to be referenced as a leading partner in the Russian space industry and wish this long-lasting partnership will further develop in the future."
Nikolay Testoyedov, general director of NPO-PM says: "We cooperate with Thales Alenia Space since 1995 when we started to work together on the creation of SESAT satellite for EUTELSAT. Nowadays, our cooperation is extending so that our payload teams are being trained by their experts while assembling and testing Express-33/44 communication satellites. This sharing of experience will enable us to design and test payload modules ourselves in close cooperation with Thales Alenia Space as payload equipment supplier. We are not going to stop on this achievement as we are broadening our cooperation to high-capacity satellites."
