Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has inaugurated its Space Smart Factory in Rome with a ceremony attended by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The factory — one of Europe’s largest intelligent, digital, reconfigurable manufacturing facilities — is located at the Tecnopolo Tiburtino high-tech innovation hub in Rome.
President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, were welcomed by Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo, Chairman of Leonardo; Roberto Cingolani, CEO and General Manager of Leonardo, and Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The delegation also included Philippe Keryer, SEVP Strategy, Research and Technology for Thales, Massimo Claudio Comparini, Managing Director of Leonardo’s Space Division and Chairman of the Thales Alenia Space Supervisory Board, Hervé Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space, and Giampiero Di Paolo, Deputy CEO of Thales Alenia Space and CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia.
The Space Smart Factory is the concrete result of an investment of over €100 million, partly financed through PNRR funds managed by the Italian Space Agency and by substantial investments from Thales and Leonardo.
The new production hub, scheduled to begin operations by year’s end with work on the Sicral 3 satellite for the Italian Defense Ministry, is based at Rome’s Tecnopolo Tiburtino — a center of technological excellence bringing together 150 companies, mostly SMEs, closely integrated with the city and its industrial landscape.
“Today, Italy soars even higher. With the inauguration of this new Space Smart Factory, we are taking another strategic step to strengthen the national space supply chain and consolidate Italy’s leadership by enhancing our capacity to design and integrate next-generation satellites,” said Adolfo Urso, Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy.
“The inauguration of this state-of-the-art facility crowns years of intense efforts by Italian Space Agency and completes the network of facilities operating throughout the country for the assembly, integration and testing of satellite” said Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency.
“Leveraging the latest technologies, the Space Smart Factory will enhance Thales Alenia Space’s production capacity and its global competitiveness as a leading player in Europe’s space industry. In that sense, our company will even more support European and national sovereign programs as well as the continent’s major space ambitions, including in large constellations.”, said Hervé Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space.
