Thales Alenia Space awarded contract as prime contractor for two Copernicus Sentinel-1 NG satellites
ILA Berlin Airshow – 10 June 2026 – Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announces the signing of a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of two Sentinel‑1 Next Generation satellites. The contract signed today represents the first tranche of a contract worth a total of €700 million.
Sentinel‑1 NG is part of Copernicus, the Earth Observation component of the European Union’s Space Programme, managed by the European Commission and co‑funded by the EU and the European Space Agency. ESA is responsible for the development and launch of dedicated Sentinel satellites, operating most of the missions and ensuring data availability. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) also supports this mission.
Sentinel‑1 Next Generation will be led under Thales Alenia Space’s industrial prime contractorship, with Airbus Defence and Space as main industrial partner responsible for the C‑band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument.
Sentinel‑1 NG: the mission at a glance
Sentinel‑1 NG will provide observation data for environmental protection, climate monitoring, natural disaster assessment, and many other societal applications. The satellites will address the needs expressed by Copernicus Climate Change, Land and Marine Monitoring services, as well as those responsible for Emergency Management and Security.
Applications include maritime surveillance and the monitoring of oceans, ice, and land—particularly soil moisture, vegetation cover, forest types, and crop conditions. The satellites will offer day‑and‑night monitoring under all weather conditions.
Sentinel‑1 NG: key features
Sentinel‑1 NG satellites are 3‑axis stabilised spacecraft based on the multi‑mission platform (MILA), produced by Thales Alenia Space and already used for Copernicus missions such as CHIME, CIMR, and ROSE‑L.
Each satellite will carry a C‑band SAR as its main instrument and a second payload for the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to enhance maritime safety, improve traffic management, and monitor vessels in sensitive areas. The satellites will ensure continuity with the first‑generation Sentinel‑1 family, for which Thales Alenia Space was responsible for the space segment.
The SAR uses a large active planar antenna (phased array) measuring 13.6 m × 0.94 m and employs an innovative multichannel acquisition technique enabled by new Modular Electronic Units developed by Thales Alenia Space. This allows image resolution to be improved by up to four times compared to the first generation and enables observation of a larger area.
Improvements include a quad‑polarisation operating mode, essential for modern land monitoring applications, and a specific mode for sea ice observation (polar mode). The MILA platform will also meet space debris mitigation requirements and enable controlled re‑entry at end of life.
Thales Alenia Space’s role and countries’ contributions
While the programme’s prime contractorship is led by Thales Alenia Space in Italy, teams in Belgium will supply the Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit (PCDU) and the photovoltaic assembly for the solar panels (PVA). Thales Alenia Space in Switzerland will provide cameras for monitoring the opening of the SAR antenna and the solar panels. Teams in Spain will deliver the Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) and the S‑Band Transponder (SBT), while Thales Alenia Space in France will be responsible for controlling the position of the solar array wings (SADA). Leonardo will supply the star trackers.
“I wanted to thank our longstanding customer, the European Space Agency, for putting its trust in our company,” stated Thales Alenia Space CEO Hervé Derrey. “The Sentinel‑1 NG mission will serve as a new pillar of European Copernicus, the most sophisticated environmental monitoring programme ever established, to which we are proud to contribute 11 of the 12 missions.”
“Thales Alenia Space will leverage its proven experience in radar Earth observation programmes to contribute to this new challenging mission,” said Giampiero Di Paolo, Senior Vice President Observation, Exploration and Navigation. “Sentinel‑1 Next Generation will offer radar imaging capabilities far beyond those of the first‑generation Sentinel‑1, expanding coverage in Europe and worldwide while reducing intervals between successive images.”
ABOUT THALES ALENIA SPACE
Thales Alenia Space leverages a unique combination of skills, technological expertise, and industrial capabilities to deliver innovative solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, defence, exploration, science, and orbital infrastructures—drawing on 50 years of proven experience.
Institutions, governments, and private industry rely on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite‑based systems that provide anytime, anywhere connectivity and positioning, monitor our planet, enhance management of its resources, explore our Solar System, and unlock the mysteries of the Universe.
Embodied by its “Space for Life” purpose, Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping build a better and more sustainable life on Earth and beyond. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of solutions including services.
Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of €2.36 billion in 2025 and has more than 8,000 employees in 7 countries with 14 sites in Europe.
Source: Thales Alenia Space
