The SpainSat NG I, the most innovative satellite in Europe and one of the ten most advanced in the world that will provide more secure communications to the Armed Forces of Spain and allied countries, undergoes the last tests in Toulouse (France) before its launch in orbit in early 2025.
This new generation satellite will be launched at the end of January or early February, while its twin, the SpainSat NG II, which is also in the French city to complete its construction and assembly, will be put into space in September of next year.
Both systems owned by government satellite operator Hisdesatwill replace those in orbit Spainsat and Xtar-Eur and will give added value to military communications.
The measurements of these new platforms are 6.7 meters high and 2.7 meters wide, and Its weight is 6,100 kilos. They will be launched into geostationary orbit, about 36,000 kilometers away from Earth, with a useful life of about 15 years and will operate in the X, Ka and UHF bands.
The Spanish Secretary of State for Defense, Amparo Valcarce, has visited the Airbus facilities in Toulouse to supervise the progress of both satellites, in which The Ministry has invested around 1.3 billion euros.
Valcarce explained that their mission is to provide more secure communications for the Spanish Armed Forces, but also for our partners in the European Union and our NATO alliesas well as they will also serve in the civil field because it is a dual technology.
“Citizens will see their communications improved, their security and their defense guaranteed”according to the ‘number two’ of Defense, who has stressed that this is one of the most ambitious satellite projects due to the level of investment, what it entails in R&D&I and support for the Spanish industry and, Furthermore, “because it has important support from the European Union.”
A consortium led by Spain (with more than 40%) with Spanish and French divisions of the companies Airbus and Thales is carrying out the development and manufacturing of the Spainsat NG I and II.
SpainSat I has already completed its assembly stage and integration into French facilities. For 18 months, the critical elements of the system have been incorporated and validated and it has been subjected to exhaustive testing.
So, now has successfully passed the mechanical testswhich consist of vibrating the satellite simulating the movements to which it will be exposed when it travels to space aboard the launcher, a Falcon 9 from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company.
Besideshas also undergone various environmental testsincluding the thermal vacuum that simulates the space environment and, finally, the active band reception antennas, developed by Airbus Defense&Space Spain, have been attached.
Basilio Garrido, head of programs and director of operations at Hisdesat, explained that these antennas can define the coverage area very precisely, in such a way that “we can almost draw it with a pencil“In addition, with them you can geolocate each of the ground signals very precisely.
Satellites are prepared to face new threats to communications and incorporate systems to locate and cancel interference, and resistance to the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear bomb, among other functions, he detailed.
It is the first time that satellites of this size will be integrated in Spain.whose communication coverage will reach two thirds of the Earth, from Denver (United States) to Singapore, on the Asian continent.
They will allow Spain to participate in leading international programss within the so-called domain of space. In addition to the Spanish Government, they will provide service to friendly countries and international organizations such as NATO and the European Union.
Iris2 satellite system
Allow connections in remote locations, facilitate Internet of Things (IoT) connections and, in particular, develop more secure communications at a critical moment for the European Union; These are some of the applications that the Iris2 project will have, a constellation of 290 multi-orbit satellites, which is closer to seeing the light.
After the award a few weeks ago to SpaceRise consortiumin which Hispasat participates, are now finalizing the signing of the contract, scheduled for December, for this public-private collaboration project that has a budget approved two years ago of 2.4 billion euros.
“Space is today a key dimension of the geopolitical scenario. As we have seen in the conflicts that we recently experienced in the international arena, it is essential that countries have strategic autonomy that guarantees secure and critical communications in a country,” Miguel Ángel Panduro, CEO of Hispasat, explains to EFE.
Specifically, it refers to examples such as border controlthe management of humanitarian crises or the connection of key infrastructures.
“Iris2 will allow Europe to be at the forefront of space technology because it wants to drive innovation and growth within the European space industry, while setting global standards in satellite communications,” adds Panduro.
The contract of concession for 12 years It is based on a public-private partnership to acquire this system of satellites in various orbits, which will provide government services, but also commercial ones.
Thus, the consortium is integrated, in addition to Hispasat, by two other European satellite network operators, SES and Eutelsat; together with a core team of European subcontractors to develop the entire communications ecosystem consisting of Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defense and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat and Thales SIX.
Elon Musk’s emergence
In addition to arriving at a critical geostrategic moment, the Iris2 project (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Satellite Security) is being developed in a key period for the sector where Elon Musk’s entry into the aerospace industry, with his company SpaceX and its Starlink satellite connection area, has been a revolution for business.
In the US, too The giant Amazon has launched an initiative to provide satellite internet on a commercial level, the Kuiper project, which plans to deploy thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites.
“The emergence of actors like Elon Musk has had a great global impact, not only in the USin a sector traditionally divided between manufacturers, launchers, operators and service providers. Musk’s proposal brings together all these elements in a single company, through vertical integration of the entire business, and it also does so thanks to a huge investment muscle,” Panduro points out.
The space industry in Spain had a turnover of 1.2 billion euros in 2023which still represents a relatively small figure if compared to other areas such as aeronautics (9,927 million euros) or defense and security (8,042 million), according to figures from the latest report from the Defense, Aeronautical Security and Space Association. (Tedae).
Although the outlook seems to be on the rise, as shown by the sector’s turnover grew by 12.3% in the last fiscal year compared to the previous year.
Jorge Potti, vice president of Tedae, explains to EFE that the space sector is a very young industry and that high growth rates are expected for the coming years, double digits in the next 30 or 40 years.
“A democratization of space is taking place,” Potti points out when explaining that Musk’s entry into the industry has meant a “cheaper” in the launch of satellites, something that until now had been a barrier to entry.
Secure communications and remote connections
This constellation of satellites will have a practical application for both citizens and for companies or industrial processes
“It supposes, on the one hand, ensure that your country will have a resilient communications network and will surely depend on Europe and with which its governments will be able to meet, as I said, their needs quickly and efficiently, without depending on third parties,” explains Panduro.
The manager adds that he also will allow connecting those not yet connectedeven in the most remote areas, something that is especially relevant for places where the deployment of other types of networks is very complicated, and which will allow the European space sector to increase its competitive position worldwide.
In recent times, low orbit satellites, which will be present in the Iris2 project and are those used by Musk and Amazon, have captured the attention of the industry because they represent some advantages over other technologies such as lower latency, the time it takes for a response to arrive.
Inmaculada Sánchez, president of the Spanish Association of Telecommunications Engineers of Madrid, explains that due to their characteristics they can be useful for IoT applications such as, for example, smart cities where traffic management would be in “real time”.
Sánchez points out that, in addition, where there is a great advantage in the use of this type of satellites in reaching the most remote areas, such as a oil platform in the middle of the oceanor in places where other types of networks such as fiber have not been deployed and highlights the role of telecommunications engineers in these developments.
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