Boeing

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, or IDS, is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems has annual sales of 23 billion USD. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.

Alenia Spazio, a company of Finmeccanica, is the major Italian space industry with important roles in the major international space programs; the know-how and experience acquired make the company one of the European leaders in the field.

At present, the company is active in four sectors: telecommunications/navigation, remote sensing, orbital infrastructures and scientific satellites.

Among the key technologies that may be used in the area of global missile defense, Alenia Spazio has built the Sicral military telecommunication satellite, which is currently serving the Italian peace-keeping missions, and is developing the innovative Ka-band satellite and the Cosmo-SkyMed constellation with synthetic aperture radar satellites for dual use applications.