EADS Astrium
Portsmouth is home to EADS Astrium’s flagship site. Astrium are currently ranked No.1 in Europe and No.3 in the world for space systems.
Portsmouth is a centre of excellence in world-class aerospace engineering with flagship company EADS Astrium locating one of its three UK sites here. The base located at the north east of the city employs over 1000 individuals and has been at the pioneering edge of satellite payload, design and manufacturing for the last 40 years. Space plays a crucial role in every aspect of our lives from security and defence to telecommunications and protecting the environment, its influence is often taken for granted.
The Portsmouth site specialises in building payloads for telecommunications, Earth observation, science and navigation satellites. It has been responsible for some of the largest and most sophisticated communication satellites ever built. Two Inmarsat 4 state of the art communications satellites were manufactured here in Portsmouth. They are around 100 times more powerful than their previous generation and are currently in geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the equator, the perfect altitude to synchronise them with the Earth’s rotation. This key location enables the giant satellites to ‘hover’ over the same spot of Earth, giving excellent coverage and transmission.
EADS Astrium is just one of the world class engineering companies to have made a home here in Portsmouth. When it comes to space, we’ve got something to be truly proud of.