Eutelsat Quantum is a

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

developed in the framework of a public-private partnership between the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it has been the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Its subsidiary E ...

and

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...

. Operated by Eutelsat, its design allows for it to reconfigure its radios coverage zone and alter its performance according its needs. It is located in a

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

and its longitude may be modified to cover any region in the world. The satellite was launched on 30 July 2021 by an

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...

rocket, together with the Brazilian Star One D2 satellite. Quantum is Eutelsat's 36th and Airbus Defence and Space's 132nd satellite launched by

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

. The satellite uses conventional chemical thrusters. The payload, which operates in the

Ku-band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally ), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band ...

, has a power rating of 5 kW. A key component of the satellite is its

phased-array antenna In antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled array of antennas which creates a beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving th ...

, which was produced by Airbus's Spanish division CASA.

In-orbit reconfigurability

The payload allows for the redefinition of its Ku-band beams with configurable coverage in order to follow targets (ships, aircraft, vehicles, troops) and provide them with mobile communications. Besides coverage,

bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...

may also be modulated in terms of power and frequencies. The satellites also offers detection

mitigation Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful that has occurred or the reduction of its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of hazards that remain ''in potentia'', or to manage harmful incidents that ...

measures against

radio jamming Radio jamming is the deliberate blocking of or interference with wireless communications.https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-347A1.pdf Enforcement Advisory No. 2012-02 FCC Enforcement Advisory Cell Jammers, GPS Jammers, and Other J ...

. Finally, the high responsiveness will also bring benefits to governments in the event of

natural disaster A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

s or

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

operations.

History

The contract establishing the public-private partnership between ESA, Eutelsat and Airbus Defence and Space was signed on 9 July 2015 in the offices of the

European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications The European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications or ECSAT is a research centre belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA) and located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It was creat ...

in Harwell, near

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It established the role of Eutelsat in the exploitation and commercialization of the new satellite, and Airbus's in the design and production. Airbus designs the

payload Payload is the object or the entity that is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of t ...

in its premises in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

using the new “GMPT” platform developed in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

by its

Surrey Satellite Technology Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, or SSTL, is a company involved in the manufacture and operation of small satellites. A spin-off company of the University of Surrey, it is presently wholly owned by Airbus Defence and Space. The company began ...

subsidiary. This project is supported by ESA and the

UK Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's British space programme, civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the Britis ...

in the scope of the ARTES programme for a launch initially planned for 2019. The development of the antenna is delayed and requires four years to the CASA division of Airbus and its industrial partners (

CRISA Computadores, Redes e Ingeniería, SAU (CRISA) is a Spanish company founded in 1985 to develop and manufacture electronics and software products for aerospace applications. In 2000, CRISA became part of the Airbus group. CRISA is based north of ...

, Arquimea and GMV) with the support of the Industrial Centre for Technology Development ( CDTI). The Ku-band active antenna, featuring eight independent reconfigurable beams, is unveiled in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 21 November 2019 and named ELSA+ (''ELectronically Steerable Antenna+''). The conducted works rely on previous accomplishments of Airbus in this field, especially the DRA/ELSA instrument designed for

Hispasat Hispasat is the operating company for a number of Spanish communications satellites that cover the Americas, Europe and North Africa from orbital positions 30.0° West and 61.0° West. It was formed in 1989 and its activities include provision ...

36W1, the IRMA (''In-orbit Reconfigurable Multibeam Antenna'') antenna for the

Spainsat Spainsat is a Spanish telecommunications satellite used for military and government communications. It allows telecommunications the different missions of the Spanish Armed forces abroad by providing coverage on a wide area of the world ranging f ...

military satellite, and

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

's active antenna. Quantum was assembled and tested between 2019 and 2020 in the premises of Airbus DS in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, from where it was sent on 30 June 2021 to the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

, before being launched successfully on 30 July 2021 on board Ariane 5 flight VA254.

References

{{European Space Agency Eutelsat Satellites in geosynchronous orbit Communications satellites

In-orbit reconfigurability

History

See also

References