The ESA/CNES Alphabus joint team in Toulouse (F)

Combined forces working on the Alphabus programme in Toulouse

13 Mar 2003

The combined ESA/CNES project team, GPA (Groupe de Project Alphabus) will be responsible for the development of the generic platform called Alphabus.

At ESA the overall programme is managed through the Large Platform Office in ESA/ESTEC in Noordwijk in the Netherlands. In this framework, ESA nominates members of the Large Platform Mission Office for resident assignment in Toulouse as part of the GPA. CNES provides the majority of the GPA team in the present preparatory phase. ESA's presence in the local Toulouse team will grow when the Alphabus development phase starts next year. The Agency will play an important role in the overall funding of the Alphabus programme and in securing a significant portion of the Alphabus development for European suppliers.

Relocating the GPA to Toulouse will enhance the day-to-day management and technical monitoring of the industrial activities which are coordinated by the Joint Project Team (JPT) also based in Toulouse and made up of the combined prime contractor teams from Alcatel (F)/Astrium(F) for Alphabus.

These combined team initiatives of both, Industry and Agency, take an essential step on the path to creating a unique European satcom product to compete on the world market.

Click here to get a close look at the team!