METLEN, Thales Alenia Space — a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) — and Thales Hellas today announced the signing of a cooperation agreement to jointly prepare for future opportunities under Greece’s defence space telecommunications programme.
The agreement combines the capabilities of the three companies, the announcement said, to support Greece’s intention to strengthen its sovereignty, security and strategic autonomy in space, while maximising participation by the national industrial ecosystem through technology transfer and skills development. It will also contribute to building high-value-added industrial and technological capabilities in Greece’s space sector.
Under the agreement, the partners will develop a framework for assessing how their expertise and industrial capabilities could contribute to a future integrated defence space telecommunications system.
Among the contributions METLEN will make to the joint venture through M Technologies, the agreement also provides for the potential use of METLEN’s gallium production capabilities in relevant supply chains for future satellites to be built by Thales Alenia Space and delivered to customers internationally.
This prospect would complement Thales Alenia Space’s expertise in secure telecommunications satellites and related ground infrastructure.
The satellite solution proposed by Thales Alenia Space will be based on a telecommunications platform recognised internationally for its reliability, resilience and speed of implementation.
Drawing on technologies already tested in real space missions and proven to be resilient, such a system could provide Greece with secure, sovereign communications that are resistant to interference, helping to strengthen national security and space autonomy.