Telespazio Germany GmbH[1][2][3] is a European aerospace company, founded in 1978.[4] The company provides consulting, technology and engineering services in aerospace missions for ESOC[5] (European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt), EUMETSAT[6] (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).[7][8]
 | |
| Company type | Private joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Sigmar Keller (CEO) |
| Services | Software and systems engineering |
| Owner | Telespazio |
Number of employees | Approx. 400 |
| Website | www |
Telespazio Germany is a subsidiary of Telespazio SpA. The Telespazio group is part of the Space Business Unit within Leonardo.
Office sites
Darmstadt (Hessen)
Headquarters [9] is near the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
Gilching (Bavaria)
Office site in Gilching,[10] near the German Space Operations Centre[11](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 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[12]
- 2010: The German VEGA is split into two companies: VEGA Space GmbH and VEGA Deutschland
- 2008: VEGA Group PLC is bought by Finmeccanica[13]
- 2007: VEGA Group acquires Anite Deutschland GmbH & Co KG in Köln.
- 2005: Thales and Finmeccanica form the Space Alliance[14] – merger between Telespazio and the space services division of Alcatel – Telespazio Deutschland is formed[15]
- 2004: VEGA Group acquires Anite Systems GmbH
- 2001: Thales acquires Alcatel Space[1]
- 2000: Thales acquires Thomson CSF
- 1992: VEGA Group PLC floats on the London stock exchange
- 1978: VEGA receives its first Operations Engineering contract with ESOC
- 1974: Alcatel Space receives first contract with ESOC
Missions and programs
Mission involvements
| Mission/Program | Mission/Program lead | Involvement |
|---|---|---|
| ATV | ESA | Support for DLR with Simulation models for the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the supply of ESA-astronauts on board of ISS[16] |
| BepiColombo | ESA, JAXA | Example development of the mission planning system.[17] |
| Cluster (spacecraft) | ESA | Support of ESA with the ground segment upgrade to extend the mission lifetime[18] |
| EDRS | DLR | Support to Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt with the handling of launch and early-orbit-phases (LEOP) for satellites EDRS-A, EDRS-C and HAG 1 [19] |
| ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter | ESA | Development of the mission control systems |
| Gaia (spacecraft) | ESA | Development of the mission control system for the mission.[23] |
| Galileo | EU | Development of a Galileo System Simulation Facility (GSSF)[25][26][27] |
| Integral | ESA | Involvement in the flight operations and concepts on mission extension and mission end[28] |
| LISA Pathfinder | ESA | Development of a simulator for operations and science [29] |
| Mars Express | ESA | Involvement in spacecraft operations of the mission [30] |
| METERON | ESA | Involvement in the METERON plug-and- play system infrastructure for robotic experiments[31] |
| Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT)[32] | DLR | Support of DLR MUSC with the lander operations concepts, resources, optimization implementations in the on board software[33] |
| Philae | DLR | Involvement in the Philae operations, commissioning and landing operations.[34] Development of spacecraft operational simulator.[35] |
| Rosetta | ESA | Development of the mission planning system for Rosetta and involvement in flight operations and flight dynamics[36][37] |
| SATCOMBw | BMVg | Operating of satellites SATCOMBw 2a and 2b of the Federal Ministry of Defence (Bundesministerium der Verteidigung – BMVg).[38] |
| Sentinel-2 | ESA | Involvement in the development of a Sen2Cor L2A processor for users, 38 in looking after the mission data status [39] |
| Sentinel-3 | ESA | Involvement in the payload data ground segment architecture and operations [40] |
| Swarm | ESA | Development of an operational simulator for the Swarm mission, used at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC).[41] Telespazio Germany staff are involved in the routine operations [42] |
| Venus Express | ESA | Involvement in the operations of Venus Express, among others through mission operations concepts and mission operations models[43] |
| XMM Newton | ESA | Involvement in the XMM-operations,[28] among others on concepts for In-tankreplenishment as well as automated on-ground FDIR techniques. |
Programs
- HETEREX: Leading of the project HETEREX[44] which was funded by BWT (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie), the project executing organisation was DLR. The project ended in 2013.[45]
- 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).[46][47]
- 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.[48]
Shareholdings and memberships
Shareholdings
Telespazio Germany is a shareholder in Centre for Satellite Navigation in Hessen (cesah)[49]
Memberships
Telespazio Germany is an active member in the following associations:
Competences
Aerospace/space
Telespazio Germany supports and operates several spacecraft for ESA[56] and DLR. Aerospace is the most important segment with more than 80% sales volume.[3]
Civil aviation
Telespazio Germany works on programs with Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) and Frankfurt Airport.[3] Up to 2013 the company led HETEREX-project.[57]
Military aviation
Development of training systems for training of pilots and technicians as cockpit procedure trainer for the CH53-GA helicopter[58] and a virtual maintenance trainer for helicopter NH90 [59]/MRH90.[60]
Applications
Development of applications for satellite-based positioning used by automatic precision guidance system in agriculture for German Agricultural Society (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft, commonly known as DLG) and John Deere[61]Also, Telespazio Germany has contributed to the project agriloc[62] through its expertise in Satellite Communication, meaning the provision of reliable connectivity to precision agriculture applications of farms and agricultural machinery in the countryside. Agriloc is a project within the ARTES 20 (Integrated Applications Promotion) programme, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Space Agency (DLR).