“The launch of the Spainsat NG1 satellite is the most important in history in Spain, due to the size and attributes of the program, as well as its budget, innovation and industry participation.” Miguel Ángel García Primo, CEO of Hisdesat, revealed this Wednesday the details of the next satellite launch, scheduled for January 29 at 5:00 Spanish time, called “to become the most advanced secure communications project in Europe and one of the most important in the world”.
Currently, The container that houses the Spainsat NG1 has already begun its transfer from the Airbus Defense and Space plant in Toulouse (France), heading to the launch location, at Cape Canaveral (Florida), from where the launch will be carried out from a completely electric Airbus platform with a Falcon 9 propellant from SpaceX, company of magnate Elon Musk. In the event that the atmospheric conditions in Florida are adverse for the launch, the project would be executed the next day, although García Primo estimates that January is an optimal month for this type of activities.
With an initial investment of 800 million euros – which includes Spainsat NG1 and NG2 -, the revenue forecast will be around 1,200 million euros, thus adding a mobilized economic volume of 2,000 million euros over the 15 years of operation. useful life of the satellite. Among other details, the antenna of the new secure communications satellite will be prepared to operate against any type of interference, as well as resist the electromagnetic pulse that could generate a potential nuclear attack in space. In turn, the Spainsat NGII satellite continues these days with its assembly, integration and testing activities at the Thales Alenia Space facilities in Tres Cantos, with the launch scheduled for next September and October, with the aim of achieving its full operation during the first months of 2026.
The new Hisdesat satellite will not only provide service to the Spanish Ministry of Defense, but also to four European NATO countries, all of them belonging to the small group of nations capable of offering secure communications. Specifically, The two satellites will be located in different geostationary positions to operate in X, military Ka and UHF bands.with the peculiarity that they will be defined by software with thousands of duly automated use cases. The coverage of the two satellites, each weighing six tons, extends from Denver (USA) to Singapore to cover more than two-thirds of the Planet.
The satellite project is signed by the Spanish company Hisdesat, controlled by Hispasat, with Airbus Defense and Space as the main contractor for the space segment. The project has also included the participation of 18 Spanish companies and universities, from different autonomous communities. As an example, Sener has carried out the amplification part for active antennas, as well as the design of chips specifically for the antenna. In turn, Indra has manufactured hybrid components for the control systems of the antenna’s radiating elements. Iberespacio has been in charge of the thermal control of the antennas, Tecnobit has created power distribution plazas, Crisa has collaborated on the electronic antenna power control boxes and TPI Norte has worked on the amplifiers, among other suppliers. Likewise, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Industry, the CDTI, INTA and ESA also participate, along with Airbus, TAS-E, Arquimea, GMV, HV Sistemas, Aicox, Invetia and Kinetics.
García Primo explained that the premium for satellite launch insurance has been especially onerous, due to the confluence of two recent failures that have caused billion-dollar losses in the sector, with the loss of certain actors and the increase in the cost of this type of coverage. .
Hispasat controls 43% of Hisdesat, the Ministry of Defense holds 30% through ISDEFE, while Airbus Defense & Space has 15%, Indra, 7% and Sener, 5%.
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