The Aerospace Logistics Technology Engineering Company (ALTEC) is an Italian aerospace company owned by the Italian Space Agency and Thales Alenia Space. [1] [2] It was founded in 2001 by Alenia Spazio and Consorzio Icarus, and is based in Turin. [2] It will serve as the Control Centre for the two ExoMars missions to Mars. [3]
Armadillo Aerospace was an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal was to build a crewed suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, and it had also stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack, co-founder and former chief technical officer of id Software.
Alenia Aeronautica was an Italian aerospace company. Its subsidiaries included Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali.
Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the eighth largest defence contractor in the world based on 2018 revenues. The company is partially owned by the Italian government, which holds 30.2% of the company's shares and is its largest shareholder.
The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entities who are active in aerospace research and technology.
ExoMars is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA).
SHARAD is a subsurface sounding radar embarked on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe. It complements the MARSIS radar on Mars Express orbiter, providing lower penetration capabilities but much finer resolution.
Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France.
The Alenia C-27J Spartan is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo's Aircraft Division. It is an advanced derivative of Alenia Aeronautica's earlier G.222, equipped with the engines and various other systems also used on the larger Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. In addition to the standard transport configuration, specialized variants of the C-27J have been developed for maritime patrol, search and rescue, C3 ISR, fire support/ground-attack and electronic warfare missions.
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is a collaborative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Roscosmos agency that sent an atmospheric research orbiter and the Schiaparelli demonstration lander to Mars in 2016 as part of the European-led ExoMars programme.
Rosalind Franklin, previously known as the ExoMars rover, is a planned robotic Mars rover, part of the international ExoMars programme led by the European Space Agency and the Russian Roscosmos State Corporation. The mission was scheduled to launch in July 2020, but was postponed to 2022. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused an indefinite delay of the programme, as the member states of the ESA voted to suspend the joint mission with Russia; in July 2022, ESA terminated its cooperation on the project with Russia. As of May 2022, the launch of the rover is not expected to occur before 2028 due to the need for a new non-Russian landing platform.
Alenia Aermacchi was a company active in the aeronautics sector, with offices and plants in Venegono Superiore, Varese, Turin Airport in San Maurizio Canavese, Province of Turin and Pomigliano d'Arco, Province of Naples. From 1 January 2016, the activities of Alenia Aermacchi merged into Leonardo’s Aircraft and Aerostructures Division.
Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the corporate restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), and comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium and Cassidian divisions. It is the world's second-largest space company after Boeing and one of the top ten defence companies in the world.
Schiaparelli EDM was a failed Entry, Descent, and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) of the ExoMars programme—a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos. It was built in Italy and was intended to test technology for future soft landings on the surface of Mars. It also had a limited but focused science payload that would have measured atmospheric electricity on Mars and local meteorological conditions.
Telespazio Germany GmbH is a European aerospace company, founded in 1978. The company provides consulting, technology and engineering services in aerospace missions for ESOC, EUMETSAT and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is the first planned extraterrestrial space station. It will be placed in lunar orbit and is intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency astronauts, as well as a holding area for rovers and other robots. It is a multinational collaborative project involving four of the International Space Station partner agencies: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is planned to be both the first space station beyond low Earth orbit and the first space station to orbit the Moon.
The Mars Organic Molecule Analyser (MOMA) is a mass spectrometer-based instrument on board the Rosalind Franklin rover to be launched in 2028 to Mars on an astrobiology mission. It will search for organic compounds in the collected soil samples. By characterizing the molecular structures of detected organics, MOMA can provide insights into potential molecular biosignatures. MOMA will be able to detect organic molecules at concentrations as low as 10 parts-per-billion by weight (ppbw). MOMA examines solid crushed samples exclusively; it does not perform atmospheric analyses.
Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) is a 3-channel spectrometer on board the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) launched to Mars orbit on 14 March 2016.
Maria Antonietta Perino is an Italian engineer who is Director International Network Opportunities Development at the Thales Alenia Space. She has previously served as Director for Advanced Exploration Programs, in which capacity she oversaw the ExoMars research programme. In 2019, she was awarded the Stella al Merito del Lavoro by the President of Italy.
Anthea Comellini is an Italian aerospace engineer and reserve astronaut. Comellini completed a PhD on space rendezvous at the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, in France, with aerospace company Thales Alenia Space in 2021. She then worked in space navigation operations for the European Space Agency, and the following year, was hired for research and development at Thales Alenia Space. She was chosen as a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps in 2022.