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45-778: SES-17 , is a high throughput all electric geostationary communications satellite owned and operated by SES , and designed and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space . Launched on 24 October 2021 from Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG), in Kourou , French Guiana by an Ariane 5ECA launch vehicle , SES-17 was positioned at 67.1° west in May 2022 and, after testing, became fully operational in June 2022. The satellite operates in conjunction with SES's other geostationary satellites and SES's medium Earth orbit O3b and O3b mPOWER satellites to provide connectivity services across North America , South America ,

90-755: A 50-50 joint venture with the global French defense contractor. The joint venture, based in South Korea , would be led by a CEO appointed by Samsung Electronics and will take over the entire defense business that Samsung Electronics has been conducting, which employed 697 people and generated sales of KRW 163.1 billion (US$ 134.5 million) the previous year. The new company would now market Samsung Electronics' defense communication equipment, satellite communication systems and terminals , fire control systems , radar guidance equipment including detection and tracking devices, and gunner's sights; and would begin overseas exports through Thomson's sales network. Samsung stated that

135-448: A communication audit highlighted Thomson-CSF's unfavorable public image, particularly among the young French graduates it sought to recruit. The new name was also meant to facilitate the company's worldwide expansion. Thales is partially owned by the French state and operates in more than 56 countries. In 2019 it had 80,000 employees and generated €18.4 billion in revenue. As of 2017, it

180-476: A driving power for the global satellite backhaul market which is expected to triple in value – jumping from the 2012 annual revenue of about US$ 800 million to $ 2.3 billion by 2021. Thales Group Thales S.A. , trading as Thales Group ( French pronunciation: [talɛs] ) is a French multinational corporation specialized in the design, development, manufacturing and support of electronic systems as well as devices and equipment for

225-567: A major manufacturer of military equipment such as smokeless gunpowder and the Bushmaster IMV . In April 2006, Thales announced it would acquire Alcatel 's space business (67% of Alcatel Alenia Space and 33% of Telespazio ) and Alcatel's Rail Signalling Solutions division, in a deal which raised Alcatel's ownership of Thales to 21.66 percent. The French government would also decrease its ownership in Thales to 27.1 percent from 31.3 percent as part of

270-763: A range of short-range missile systems such as the Starstreak surface-to-air missile or Lightweight Multi-role Missile (LMM). In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine , major arms manufacturers, including Thales, reported a sharp increase in interim sales and profits. The Thales ATM (Air Traffic Management) solution is marketed under the name "TopSky", previously named "EuroCat". Thales supplies avionics to civil aircraft manufacturers, including Fly-By-Wire systems, cockpit systems, navigation computers, satellite communication, inflight entertainment and electrical systems. The coordination of Thales parts' servicing and maintenance

315-747: A subsidiary of Thales, and Dominique Monleau alleged that Thales has a centralised slush fund that it uses to bribe officials. On 30 May 2005 Schabir Shaik , the financial advisor to Jacob Zuma , the deputy president of the African National Congress party, was found guilty by the High Court in Durban of organising a bribe on behalf of Thomson-CSF . On 22 January 2020, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg ruled that both

360-407: Is coordinated by its MRO division; OEMServices , which handles the repair flow for component maintenance support. In November 2017, Thales acquired a UK radar provider called Aveillant which produces software-defined holographic radar technology, which can detect small targets such as drones. In February 2018, Thales won on a A$ 1.2 billion ($ 946 million) contract with Airservices Australia and

405-579: Is involved in the construction of both the Horizon and FREMM programs. Thales, as Thomson-CSF, was involved in the Taiwan frigates scandal , relating to the sale of La Fayette -class frigates to Taiwan. It is also present in Eurosam as Thomson-CSF was a founder of the consortium along with Aérospatiale and Alenia Aeronautica . In February 2004, Thales was awarded a contract for a new command and control system for

450-588: Is managed through the Adaptive Resource Control (ARC) software system developed jointly between SES and Kythera Space Solutions, autonomously optimizing space and ground resources, on-the-fly, in accordance with customers' changing needs. On 12 September 2016, SES ordered the SES-17 dedicated Ka-band high-throughput satellite from Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy, the main contractor for SES's O3b satellites. Offering mobility connectivity services over

495-1015: Is stated to be launched in 2023. In Turkey, the Thales team delivered the first High Speed Line in the country in 2009, and has completed more than 400 km (250 mi) of the Ankara Istanbul High Speed Line. Effective 31 May 2024, the ground transportation division was sold off to Hitachi Rail . The deal was made at $ 2.5 billion. Thales is also a major manufacturer of in-flight entertainment systems on board airliners. Thales' primary competitors in this area of business include Panasonic Avionics Corporation and Rockwell Collins . Thales also produces and installs ticketing and communications systems for public transportation via its ticketing and revenue collection division. In November 2016, Thales announced its intention to divest from its transport ticketing, revenue collection, road toll and car park management business. The company entered into negotiations with Paris-based Latour Capital, but

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540-613: The Australian Department of Defence to unify Australia's civil and military airspace under a single air traffic control system , named "OneSKY". Thales has major involvement in the UK rail industry as a result of the Racal merger and the 2006 acquisition of Alcatel's Rail Signalling Solutions division and transport business. Thales is to modernize 40 per cent of London Tube network London Underground . In Denmark, Thales now owns 100% of

585-684: The Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean . SES-17 is based on the three axis stabilised SpaceBusNEO 200 satellite bus . It has a mass of 6,411 kg (14,134 lb), produces 15 kW of power and has a design life of 15 years. Like all SpaceBusNEO, SES-17 uses electric propulsion exclusively for both orbit raising and station keeping and was launched on an Arianespace Ariane 5ECA launch vehicle pn 24 October 2021. The satellite will provide almost 200 Ka-band spot beams of mixed sizes for coverage over North America, South America, Caribbean, and

630-499: The aerospace , defence , security and transportation sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris ' business district, La Défense , and its stock is listed on Euronext Paris . The company was previously known as Thomson-CSF since its foundation in 1968. It was rebranded Thales (named after the Greek philosopher Thales [talɛs] pronounced as in French ) in 2000, after

675-441: The round-trip delay for internet protocol transmission via a geosynchronous satellite can exceed 550 ms which is detrimental to many digital connectivity applications, such as automated stock trades, on-line gaming and Skype video chats. and the focus for HTS is increasingly shifting to the lower Medium Earth orbit (MEO) and Low Earth orbit (LEO), with altitudes as low as 600 km and delays as short as 40ms. Also,

720-541: The "East-west Consortium" contracted for a nationwide travel card (Danish: " Rejsekort "). In India, Thales was selected in December 2014 by the New Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to deliver a completely automatic fare collection system, as well as ticketing equipment. Thales has also been contracted by Hyderabad Metro Rail since 2017 to provide train control automation and communication services for

765-572: The Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, SES-17 was expected to launch in 2020 with the FlytLIVE airline passenger connectivity service from Thales Avionics as its anchor customer. Prior to the launch of SES-17, FlytLIVE would use capacity contracted by SES on Hughes 's EchoStar XVII and EchoStar XIX satellites, along with SES's own AMC-15 and AMC-16 satellites. The cost of the satellite and launch, and

810-873: The Atlantic Ocean mainly for aircraft connectivity. SES-17 is SES's first geostationary Ka-band high-throughput satellite , and the first one to include a fully digital payload, using Thales' Spaceflex VHTS Processor, a Digital Transparent Processor (DTP) developed with support from the French space agency, Centre National d'Études Spatiales CNES and the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide in-orbit frequency plan flexibility so mobility customers can change their networks in real time in response to changing bandwidth demands, implementing broadcast , multicast or mesh network as required, and improving efficiency in throughput and bandwidth use. Along with SES's medium Earth orbit satellite constellation , O3b mPOWER , SES-17

855-839: The EU-supported projects Thales participates in are: The company's design won the competition for the Royal Navy Future Carrier (CVF) . It is part of the AirTanker consortium, the winning bid for the RAF's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft . Thales UK won the contract for the British Army UAV programme, Watchkeeper . It also produces the SWARM remote weapon station . Thales simulators include full motion devices as well as flat panels and other training facilities. Thales Air Defence produces

900-651: The French Navy, the SIC 21, that will be fitted on the Charles de Gaulle, many vessels and shore locations. Additionally, the initially planned French aircraft carrier PA2 involved Thales as the main designer of the ship. However, the project was cancelled in 2013. Thales is also working on X-ray imaging, finances, energy and operating commercial satellites. By 2012, the company is mainly composed of five branches: Defense, Security, Space, Aerospace and Ground transportation. Among

945-519: The Thales Group and Zuma could be criminally tried for alleged illegal arms dealings which Thales was allowed to undergo in South Africa. Zuma is said to have allowed these illegal Thales arms dealings when he was the nation's deputy president and is also believed to have partaken in them as well. On 10 June 2011, Thales Group and the French government were ordered to pay 630 million euros (almost

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990-457: The UK (largely as a result of the Racal acquisition) has resulted in several high-profile contracts. Thales has offices in: As of June 2024, Thales' major shareholders are the French state (26.06%) and Dassault Aviation (26.05%). A High Court case decided in 2012 between Thales (supplier of Greater Manchester's tram management system) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TGM) considered

1035-642: The acquisition. The deal would also include the Systems Integration activities (those not dedicated to telecoms operators, and covering mainly the transport and energy sectors). In January 2007, the 1.7 billion Euro deal ($ 2.24 billion) was approved. In 2008, Thales acquired British Hardware security module vendor nCipher. In December 2008, Alcatel agreed to sell a 20.8% stake in French engineering group Thales SA to Dassault Aviation SA for €1.57 billion ($ 2.27 billion). In 2014, Alcatel-Lucent initiated talks to sell its cybersecurity unit to Thales. The deal

1080-544: The combined contract backlog for SES-17, along with the O3b mPOWER high-throughput MEO satellite constellation (expected to begin commercial service by the end of 2023) is now in excess of US$ 1 billion (gross $ 1,025 million, fully protected $ 835 million). High-throughput satellite The significant increase in capacity is achieved by a high level frequency re-use and spot beam technology which enables frequency re-use across multiple narrowly focused spot beams (usually in

1125-549: The competition for the Royal Navy Future Carrier (CVF) , and the company now participates in an alliance company with BAE Systems and the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence . Thales Navigation, a division that produced satellite navigation units, was sold to private equity group Shah Capital Partners in 2006 for $ 170 million and renamed Magellan . In 2006, Thales acquired Australian Defence Industries ,

1170-473: The consumer broadband market, some are also offering services to government and enterprise markets, as well as to terrestrial cellular network operators who face growing demand for broadband backhaul to rural cell sites . For cellular backhaul, the reduced cost per bit of many HTS platforms creates a significantly more favorable economic model for wireless operators to use satellite for cellular voice and data backhaul. Some HTS platforms are designed primarily for

1215-574: The consumer market. In the last 10 years, the majority of high-throughput satellites operated in the K a band (26.5–40  GHz ), however this is not a defining criterion, and at the beginning of 2017 there were at least 10 K u band (12–16 GHz) HTS satellite projects, of which 3 had launched and 7 were in construction. Initially, HTS systems used satellites in the same geosynchronous orbit (at an altitude of 35,786 km) as satellite TV craft (with satellites such as KA-SAT , Yahsat 1A and Astra 2E sharing TV and HTS functionality) but

1260-447: The enterprise, telecom or maritime sectors. HTS can furthermore support point-to-multipoint applications and even broadcast services such as DTH distribution to relatively small geographic areas served by a single spot beam. A fundamental difference between HTS satellites is the fact that certain HTS are linked to ground infrastructure through a feeder link using a regional spot beam dictating

1305-437: The higher costs associated with spot beam technology, the overall cost per circuit is considerably lower as compared to shaped beam technology. While K u band FSS bandwidth can cost well over $ 100 million per gigabit per second in space, HTS like ViaSat-1 can supply a gigabit of throughput in space for less than $ 3 million. While a reduced cost per bit is often cited as a substantial advantage of high-throughput satellites,

1350-505: The joint venture company Armaris with the French shipbuilder DCN to offer a total "bottom up" shipbuilding capability. Also in 2002, Thales Broadcast Multimedia, a former subsidiary of Thales, provided China with standard short-wave radio-broadcasting equipment designed for general public radio broadcasting . Though the contract was not for this purpose, it later appeared that China used these ALLISS antennas for jamming foreign radio broadcasts to China. In 2003, Thales UK's design won

1395-473: The location of possible teleports while other HTS satellites allow the use of any spot beam for the location of the teleports . In the latter case, the teleports can be set up in a wider area as their spotbeams' footprints cover entire continents and regions like it is the case for traditional satellites . Industry analysts at Northern Sky Research believe that high-throughput satellites will supply at least 1.34 TB/s of capacity by 2020 and thus will be

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1440-454: The lower path losses of MEO and LEO orbits reduces ground station and satellite power requirements and costs, and so vastly increased throughput and global coverage is achieved by using constellations of many smaller, cheaper high-throughput satellites. SES's O3b constellation was the first MEO high-throughput satellite system, launched in 2013, and by 2018 more than 18,000 new LEO satellites had been proposed to launch by 2025. Despite

1485-448: The lowest cost per bit is not always the main driver behind the design of an HTS system, depending on the industry it will be serving. HTS are primarily deployed to provide broadband Internet access service (point-to-point) to regions unserved or underserved by terrestrial technologies where they can deliver services comparable to terrestrial services in terms of pricing and bandwidth. While many current HTS platforms were designed to serve

1530-455: The metro in Hyderabad . In 2014, the company was tasked with equipping the public transport system of Bordeaux , France, with a contactless ticketing and revenue collection system, to be installed by February 2017. However, due to delays, the system is not expected to be operational until 2019. In Singapore, Thales was involved in a train collision resulting from a compatibility issue between

1575-418: The negotiations ended in 2017 after Latour Capital announced this business was "not aligned closely enough with its investment priorities." After subsequent talks with Chinese investors failed, Thales abandoned the divestment. Thales' international subsidiaries generated 52% of the company's revenue in 2008, with Thales UK being the largest of these accounting for 13% of group revenue. Its large presence in

1620-708: The network of gateways on the ground is expected to be around US$ 500 million. In September 2017, SES announced that Arianespace had been selected to launch SES-17 in 2021. In September 2019, SES announced it had partnered with satellite payload and network management systems developer, Kythera Space Solutions to develop the ARC (Adaptive Resource Control) software to enable the dynamic control and optimisation of power, throughput, beams and frequency allocation on SES-17 and other future high-throughput satellites and their networks. SES's 2020 Annual Report, released in March 2021, said that SES-17

1665-558: The old signalling system's interface, and the new one. The accident resulted in 38 minor injuries. A similar incident would occur in March 2019 in Hong Kong on the Tsuen Wan line . In Vietnam, the company was awarded a €265 million contract in 2017 to deliver the telecommunications system for the currently constructed Line 3 of the Hanoi metro. Running behind schedule by one year, the metro line

1710-464: The operation of an audit clause in a contract, and the extent to which a supplier must comply with this. Thales had submitted claims for increased costs and for extensions to the time allowed for delivery of the system. TGM made various requests for documents intended to better help assess their claims. The Court instructed Thales to supply the requested documents. Although the ticketing system in Bordeaux

1755-432: The order of hundreds of kilometers), as in cellular networks, which both are defining technical features of high-throughput satellites. By contrast traditional satellite technology utilizes a broad single beam (usually in the order of thousands of kilometers) to cover wide regions or even entire continents. In addition to a large amount of bandwidth capacity HTS are defined by the fact that they often, but not solely, target

1800-429: The two parent companies also intended to combine their respective areas of competitive advantage to jointly develop and sell next-generation products. In June 2001, Thales formed ThalesRaytheonSystems , an equal-ownership joint venture with Raytheon combining their radar and communication systems divisions. It was restructured in 2016 to sell exclusively to NATO agencies and member states. In 2002, Thales set up

1845-586: Was completed in December 2023. Thales Group supplies electronic devices and equipment used by the French Armed Forces from its past as Thomson-CSF, including the SPECTRA helmet for the army and the gendarmerie . It has worked with Dassault Aviation on the Dassault Rafale aircraft and made its SPECTRA defensive aids. Thales often worked with DCNS and designed the electronics used on French ships, and it

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1890-927: Was expected to launch in July 2021. In April 2021, Arianespace projected a launch in August 2021, then, in September 2021 a launch on 22 October 2021. After a small delay caused by technical issues with the launch pad, the launch was successfully carried out on 24 October 2021 at 02:10 UTC. In May 2022, SES-17 reached its intended orbital position at 67.1° west and, after testing, became fully operational in June 2022. In July-August 2022, Spirit Airline's inflight Internet service (using Thales' FlytLIVE) transitioned from Hughes Network Systems satellites to SES-17 to become "the fastest Wi-Fi service of any US-based airline" with connection speeds of up to 400 Mbps for A320 and A321 passengers across all Spirit routes. In August 2023, SES announced that

1935-458: Was originally due for launch in the summer of 2017, multiple delays pushed the new launch date back by 20 months to 2019. The project's many setbacks are considered to reflect negatively on the city's reputation, with Bordeaux's city's mayor and former French prime minister Alain Juppé , calling Thales' inability to meet its commitments "unacceptable behaviour." Michel Josserand, former head of THEC,

1980-504: Was signed in October of that year. In 2016, Thales acquired Vormetric , a data security company, for $ 400M. In 2017, it acquired Guavus and bid €4.76B for digital security company Gemalto . In 2018, Thales committed to divesting nCipher as a condition for its acquisition of Gemalto; in June 2019 it divested nCipher to Entrust . In 2023, Thales acquired cybersecurity company, Imperva , from Thoma Bravo for $ 3.6B. The acquisition

2025-523: Was the 8th largest defence contractor in the world with 55% of its total sales from military work. Patrice Caine was appointed chairman and CEO in December 2014. The firm began as Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston (CFTH), established in 1893. In 1968 Thomson-Brandt (a renamed CFTH) merged its electronics arm with that of Compagnie générale de la télégraphie sans fil (CSF) to form Thomson-CSF , which changed its name to Thales in December 2000. In October 1999, Samsung Electronics announced

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