Thales Alenia Space announced that it is further expanding its presence in Europe with the creation of a new British subsidiary, Thales Alenia Space UK.

Based at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (HISC) in Oxfordshire, Thales Alenia Space UK is an integral part of the company’s strategy to bolster its presence in key countries that invest heavily in the space sector. It follows the opening of Thales Alenia Space subsidiary in Germany in 2011 and the extension of the presence of Thales Alenia Space in Belgium by the creation of an office in Leuven.

The decision to locate a new subsidiary in the UK was spurred by the UK Government’s commitment to fund space activities and create new initiatives to foster growth in the space industry – including the formation of the UK Space Agency, an increased contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA), the investment in the UK Space Gateway at Harwell, and more recently securing a significant share of the Neosat programme for the UK. Thales Alenia Space UK will be an integral part of Thales Alenia Space Neosat prime engineering activities, and will contribute to the design and production of the propulsion subsystem for this new platform.