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COROT: delivering a rich harvest of data to scientists around the world

02 February 2009

Cannes, February 2, 2009 - The COROT satellite developed by French space agency CNES and Thales Alenia Space has been in orbit since December 27, 2006. It scans predetermined swatches of the sky to detect exoplanets when they pass in front of their suns, and also explore the internal structure of these suns by measuring micro-fluctuations in their luminosity. From February 2 to 7, the results of the first two years of observation will be presented at an international symposium in Paris, prior to making mission data available to the international community of astronomers. This data will help further expand our knowledge of the universe.

The COROT space telescope is an astronomy mission conducted by CNES in conjunction with several French laboratories and partners in Europe, as well as Brazil. Thales Alenia Space is the lead industrial partner in this international mission. It supplied the Proteus platform, developed in conjunction with CNES that has already been used on the Jason-1, Jason-2 and Calipso missions, largely proving its excellent performance and in-orbit reliability. Thales Alenia Space also supplied the Corotel telescope, a primary payload instrument, reflecting its long experience in space-based astronomy.

"COROT will undoubtedly go down as a turning point in the history of space astronomy," said Reynald Seznec, Chairman and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. "It is both a privilege and an honor for Thales Alenia Space and our partners to have developed this unique spacecraft. We are of course delighted with the exceptional data gathered to date, since COROT has already identified five extrasolar planets, including four gaseous giants and an unknown celestial object. Given the satellite's proven performance, we naturally hope that it will continue to reap a rich harvest for several years to come. This will give scientists the raw material needed for decades of exciting studies, perhaps including key discoveries and revelations."

Thales Alenia Space has worked with CNES, the European space agency (ESA) and the Italian space agency (ASI) since the beginning of space astronomy programs in Europe. Thales Alenia Space is the leading European manufacturer in this sector, in charge of some of today's most ambitious programs, such as the Herschel and Planck observatories, the most extensive scientific mission ever undertaken by ESA. These two spacecraft will be launched by an Ariane rocket in April, to study, respectively, the far infrared band and cosmic radiation.

About Thales Alenia Space
European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups' "Space Alliance". Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecoms, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. The company has a total of 7,200 employees and 11 industrial sites, with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.