Spacebus is a satellite bus

Satellite bus

A satellite bus or spacecraft bus is the general model on which multiple-production satellite spacecraft are often based. The bus is the infrastructure of a spacecraft, usually providing locations for the payload .They are most commonly used for geosynchronous satellites, particularly...

 produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center

Cannes Mandelieu Space Center

The Cannes Mandelieu Space Center is an industrial plant dedicated to spacecraft manufacturing, located in both the towns of Cannes and Mandelieu in France...

 in France by Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space is an aerospace company born after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.-History:...

. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary

Geostationary orbit

A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...

 communications satellite

Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...

s, and fifty-two have been launched since development started in the 1980s. Spacebus was originally produced by Aérospatiale

Aérospatiale

Aérospatiale was a French aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale...

 and later passed to Alcatel Alenia Space. In 2006, it was sold to Thales Group

Thales Group

The Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...

 as Thales Alenia Space.

The first Spacebus satellite, Arabsat-1A

Arabsat-1A

Arabsat-1A was a Saudi Arabian communications satellite which was operated by Arabsat. It was used to provide communication services to the Arab States. It was constructed by Aérospatiale, based on the Spacebus 100 satellite bus, and carries two NATO E/F-band and 25 NATO G/H-Band transponders...

, was launched in 1985. Since then, fifty two have been launched, with four more completed, and twelve outstanding orders.