Alcatel Space, Astrium Forge AlphaBus Agreement

Alcatel Space and Astrium have signed an agreement for the joint production and marketing of high-powered satellites that will use the European AlphaBus platform developed by the two companies with the help of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French space agency CNES.

AlphaBus will offer payload power of 12 kilowatts to 18 kilowatts initially, with substantial upgrade potential. The platform will be able to handle new types of missions – such as those needed to fly the very large antennas associated with next-generation payloads.

Claudio Mastracci, ESA director of applications, said that “this agreement is an historical decision that sees two main actors like Alcatel Space and Astrium join forces on an ambitious project that will keep Europe at the forefront of the key satellite telecommunications sector. The success of this project is essential for Europe’s future in space.”