Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67 percent) and Leonardo (33 percent), has inaugurated a new plant in Hasselt, Belgium, dedicated to the automated production of photovoltaic assemblies (PVA), which generate electrical power on satellite solar arrays.

Representing an overall budget of about 20 million euros, including strong support from Belgium, this plant showcases Thales Alenia Space’s Industry 4.0 approach and is the only one of its kind in Europe. It also perfectly complements the Leonardo center of excellence in Nerviano, Italy, which designs and builds photovoltaic assemblies for all the major programs conducted by the European and Italian space agencies (ESA and ASI, respectively).

With this new “Factory 4.0”, the Space Alliance (between Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio) will be able to deliver a complementary and highly competitive range of PVA solutions for all types of satellites.