Leonardo, what Cingolani will do on Thales Alenia Space
Leonardo's CEO, Roberto Cingolani, confirmed that the Italian aerospace and defense group aims to strengthen itself in the space segment, in particular with the joint venture Thales Alenia Space. Regarding a hypothetical dilution of the stake in Avio instead…
Cingolani aims for space with Leonardo.
On the sidelines of the Cybertech Europe 2023 exhibition, Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani anticipated the route that will be traced by the group's new industrial plan, arriving next year, based on two pillars: "cyber" and "space". “We understood that much of what is internet will be satellite-based” and that space “will generate a large amount of data”, explained Cingolani.
It is precisely in the satellite industry that the former Finmeccanica group wants to have greater influence. Also on the same occasion, Cingolani confirmed the predictions of the Sole 24 Ore at the beginning of the month, according to which the aerospace and defense group was working on an increase in the weight of satellite production in the joint venture Thales Alenia Space and for this reason it had initiated talks with the French Thales. At the moment the joint venture is made up of 67% Thales and 33% Leonardo.
As Gianni Dragoni reports in the Confindustria newspaper, Leonardo's number one has supported the intention to review the alliance with Thales in the space industry. «We are discussing a resymmetrization of the space alliance with Thales. The talks are positive. I will have a third meeting with Patrice Caine [ CEO of the French group] this month", replied Cingolani.
At the same time, Leonardo's CEO specified to Il Sole 24 Ore "that it will not exit the launcher sector" given that another rumor concerned a simultaneous reduction in exposure to the launcher segment with consequent downsizing of the share in Avio.
All the details.
LEONARDO INTENDS TO REVIEW THE ALLIANCE WITH THE FRENCH OF THALES
Therefore the Piazza Monte Grappa group aims to establish new balances within the alliance with the French Thales in the joint venture Thales Alenia Space. As Il Sole 24 Ore reports, "in the manufacturing of satellites, according to Leonardo managers, Thales Alenia Space Italia (formerly Alenia Spazio), which is based in Turin, would have the capacity to do more work than what is attributed to it by the distribution of tasks decided by the French top management of Thales Alenia Space. According to these sources, the Cannes plant would be favored. According to Italian sources, in the space industry the French part of Thales would make losses, while the Italian branch makes profits".
Therefore, with the ongoing talks with Thales, Leonardo's management aims to increase the Italian presence in the joint venture, which as we were saying currently sees the former Finemccanica at 33%.
NO STEP BACK ON AVIO
Meanwhile, Cingolani refuted rumors that Leonardo could review its 29.6% stake in Avio Spa, the leading Italian space propulsion company that makes the Vega launcher. «No… We will give Avio the support it needs», replied Leonardo's CEO to Il Sole 24 Ore .
On the other hand, according to Dragoni, "the Government would be against the exit from a strategic sector, even if the European launcher industry is in a difficult phase, due to the delays both in the debut of the French Ariane 6 heavy rocket and of the new Vega C launcher”.
TRACKERS AND COMPARISONS ALIGNED IN THE SPACE
Just at the beginning of last week, the European Space Agency (ESA) established that Vega C will return to flight at the end of 2024 . The launcher was left stuck on the launch pad following the failure of Vega C's first commercial flight on December 20th. The failure dealt a major blow to European efforts to maintain launch autonomy . The Vega C was one of the cornerstones of that strategy, together with the Ariane 6 still awaiting its debut date.
Now the Independent Investigation Commission (IEC) established by ESA to examine the anomaly that occurred during the test of Vega-C's Zefiro 40 engine last June 28, has recently completed its work and concluded that it is necessary to redesign a rocket engine nozzle.
“This situation creates an advantage for American industry, especially for Elon Musk's SpaceX, «a man-state», Cingolani observed to Il Sole 24 Ore. Suffice it to say that without Ariane 6, and with the withdrawal of Ariane 5, the Falcon 9 of the US SpaceX is the only viable alternative for ESA to transport satellites into orbit including the launch of 4 Galileo satellites. «In Europe the space is made up of France and Italy, they must understand that they must work together, that the enemy is outside», underlined Cingolani. The same thesis was also recently supported by the CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia. Access to space is an inherent part of space, but “something didn't work in Europe” admitted Massimo Comparini, Deputy CEO ESVP Thales Alenia Space.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/leonardo-cosa-fara-cingolani-su-thales-alenia-space/ on Mon, 09 Oct 2023 07:35:11 +0000.