 | |
| Company type | Private (Subsidiary of Telespazio) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Space |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | Luton, Bedfordshire, UK |
Key people | Mark Hewer (CEO) |
Number of employees | 120 (2023) |
| Parent | Telespazio |
| Website | [1] |
Telespazio UK Ltd. is a British space company based in Luton, Bedfordshire. Founded in 1978 by a small group of engineers at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, VEGA presently works with various space agencies, satellite operators and manufacturers around the world. It works with the European Space Agency (ESA) and ESOC in Germany, European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, ESA Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) in Rome, Italy, and European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid, Spain.
Since 1978, VEGA has worked on almost every ESA mission and many other European and international programmes, including Mars Express, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station (ISS), the Eumetsat Polar System, and the Ground Segment Development for ADEN. On 1 January 2011, VEGA Space Ltd became a part of Telespazio, the Rome-based space systems services joint venture between the French defense electronics specialist Thales Group and the Italian aerospace group Leonardo, formerly known as Finmeccanica. Telespazio VEGA is an active member of UKspace, the trade association for Britain's space industry, and is heavily involved with the International Space Innovation Centre based in Harwell.