Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has won a contract from the Italian space agency (ASI) to conduct the development of the Space Factory 4.0
program in the frame of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Thales Alenia Space is leading a consortium including Argotec, CIRA and Sitael, to develop an interconnected system with facilities located across Italy, set to start operations by 2026.
As the lead company, Thales Alenia Space will consolidate the country’s expertise in the design, production and testing of satellite components. The consortium will call on advanced automation and digitalization to build advanced satellites in particular in the micro and small satellite segment including the Platino and NIMBUS families.
The “Space Factory” will offer the specific means and tools to produce advanced satellites in a wide range from large infrastructures weighting hundreds kilograms to satellites down to a few dozen kilograms to be produced in the large quantities implied by new constellation configurations. Space Factory 4.0 facilities will be located in the Piedmont (Argotec), Lazio (Thales Alenia Space), Campania (CIRA), Apulia and Tuscany (Sitael) regions of Italy, and will be interconnected with the entire supply chain – including startups and research centers - creating an advanced production hub for domestic, European and international space programs.