Hellas Sat and Thales Alenia Space sign cooperation MoU

Hellas Sat – with headquarters in Greece and Cyprus – and Thales Alenia Space, a joint-venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the development of an optical communication payload for the upcoming new mission to be embarked on the future Hellas Sat 5 telecommunications satellite.

The partnership between Hellas Sat and Thales Alenia Space aims to provide cutting-edge communication services with very high data rates from geostationnary orbit, Hellas Sat said in a press release. It added that the innovative payload aims to connect the Optical Ground Station of the National Athens Observatory in Greece, Optical Ground Stations in France, Optical Ground Stations of ESA and Thales Alenia Space's LEO HydRON with the telecommunication satellite.

After the Vertigo H2020 programme, Thales Alenia Space is currently advancing the development of very high data rate capacities (up to 1 terabit/second) facing long distances from ground to geostationnary orbit and cross-atmospheric turbulence, with support from France Relance (CO-OP), CNES (DYSCO) and ESA (HydRON).

The MoU signing ceremony took place at Hellas Sat’s headquarters in Athens, with representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the French embassy in Greece, ESA, CNES, Thales Alenia Space France, Italy and Switzerland, the National Athens Observatory, and various Greek ministries and local authorities.

“We are honoured to work once again with Thales Alenia Space in the realm of optical communication technology, introducing the optical connectivity communication services to the European and International market thus effectively achieving the implementation of new technologies and sealing a new era,” said Christodoulos Protopapas, CEO of Hellas Sat.

Marc-Henri Serre, Executive Vice President Telecommunications at Thales Alenia Space, added: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Hellas Sat and all our partners to develop optical communications payload, a crucial step towards establishing a secure and very high data rate optical network. This marks the beginning of a new era in telecommunication services with a sustainable approach.”

The Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, stated: "Undoubtedly, this is a big step towards technological progress, which in fact strengthens the cooperation between Greece and France. The Hellas Sat 5 satellite which is to be constructed will provide us with new possibilities in fields such as early forecasting and the collection of scientific data."