Spainsat NG is a Spanish

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 ...

program aimed at developing next-generation satellites to meet Spain's government and military secure communications needs. The industrial management of the program is carried out by a consortium of four contractors: Airbus Defense and Space in Spain and France, and

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...

in Spain and France. Other companies from the Spanish space sector that will also participate are Acorde, Anteral, Arquimea, Crisa, GMV, Iberespacio,

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

Sener SENER is a private engineering and technology group founded in 1956. Specializing in activities related to Engineering and Construction, it has industrial holdings in companies working in the areas of energy, environment, and aeronautics. SENE ...

and Tecnobit. Public participation includes the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, the Ministry of Industry, CDTI,

INTA Inta (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia. Population: History Inta was founded around 1940 as a settlement to support a geological expedition to explore coal deposits and projecting of mines. The ...

and ESA. The satellites operator will be

Hisdesat Hisdesat (, 'Hisdesat Strategic Services') is a Spanish company created in 2001 by Hispasat (43%), Ingeniería y Servicios Aeroespaciales (30%), EADS CASA (15%, now Airbus), Indra Sistemas (7%) and SENER (5%) with initial investment of 415 m ...

. The Spainsat NG program comprises two satellites, Spainsat NG I and Spainsat NG II, which will be located in

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 will operate in

X-band The X band is the designation for a band of frequency, frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is set at approximately 7.0� ...

, military K_a-band and

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

. These satellites will be based on the Eurostar Neo platform, Airbus' new geostationary telecommunications satellite product. This platform is a significant evolution of the reliable

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

platform. The communication payloads of both satellites will be provided by the Spanish industry, with Airbus in Spain being responsible for the X-band payload and Thales in Spain being responsible for the K_a and UHF band payloads. The satellites will have protection against interference, as well as the ability to precisely geolocate the origin of the interference, and will probably also have protection against high altitude nuclear explosions (HANE). The first satellite, Spainsat NG I, will be launched in January 2025 and will occupy the GEO 29° E position, replacing

XTAR-EUR The XTAR-EUR is a communication satellite developed by Spain and the United States and in order to provide a secure channel over the Indian Ocean. It was originally operated by XTAR and Hisdesat. In year 2020 Hisdesat bought 100% stake on the ...

. The second one, the Spainsat NG II, will be launched also in 2025 and will occupy the GEO 30° W position, replacing

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 ...

. The Spainsat NG satellites will have an operational useful life of 15 years, remaining in service until 2040. Both launches will be performed by a

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...

rocket. In October 2020, Spainsat NG program successfully passed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and in December 2021 it passed the

Critical Design Review In the United States military integrated acquisition lifecycle the technical section has multiple acquisition technical reviews. Technical reviews and audits assist the acquisition and the number and types are tailored to the acquisition. Overall ...

(CDR).

References

External links

Hisdesat's website
� {{Future spaceflights Satellites of Spain Communications satellites

See also

References

External links