The story
Founded by Thales Group on Apr 10, 2007.1
Thales Alenia Space was formed following Thales Group's decision to acquire Alcatel's shares in two existing Franco-Italian joint ventures with Finmeccanica: Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.
Alcatel Alenia Space was established on 1 June 2005 through the merger of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio. The new company was owned by Alcatel-Lucent (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Its creation coincided with Alcatel taking a 33% stake in Finmeccanica's existing Telespazio subsidiary, which was combined with Alcatel's Space Services and Operations business.
On 5 April 2006, Alcatel announced plans to sell its stakes in both Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio to Thales. The European Commission approved the transaction on 10 April 2007 following a competition review. The same day, Thales announced the creation of a new space alliance with Finmeccanica.
According to a statement by Thales UK chief executive Alex Dorrian issued during 2007, Thales Alenia Space has actively sought out opportunities for both partnership and acquisition amongst other space enterprises. In December 2007, it was announced that Thales Alenia Space and Russian satellite specialist NPO PM have agreed to develop the new Express-4000 multi-mission satellite bus, which incorporates Russian equipment with a Thales-built payload. Since then, Thales Alenia Space has developed subcontracting relationships with North American aerospace companies, including Ball Aerospace and Boeing.
From Wikipedia’s article on Thales Alenia Space, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3