Airbus Defence and
Space has announced that
the planned 67,000 km
move of the Skynet 5A
satellite over the Asia
Pacific region is on
track. The move from 6°
East to 94.8° East will
expand Airbus Defence
and Space’s capability
to provide protected and
secure military satcom
services to allied
governments in the
Asia-Pacific region. The
satellite will be on
station at its new
location in the autumn
this year.
Airbus Defence and
Space announced the
planned move of Skynet
5A military
communications satellite
at the Satellite 2015
Conference in March
2015. The relocation
will extend the Skynet
constellation coverage
and services from 178
West to 163 East,
including the Indian
Ocean and Western
Pacific region. This
will provide near-global
military X-band and UHF
coverage, expanding core
service reach for the UK
military and augment
coalition capabilities
in the region.
Airbus Defence and
Space owns and operates
the hardened Skynet
X-band satellite
constellation of 8
satellites and the
ground network to
provide all Beyond Line
of Sight (BLOS)
communications to the UK
Ministry of Defence. The
contract also allows
other NATO and allied
governments such as
members of the five-eyes
community (besides UK,
the USA, Australia, New
Zealand and Canada) to
use the Skynet system to
augment their existing
services. Airbus Defence
and Space also leases
the X-band hosted
payload on Telesat’s
Anik G1 satellite which
covers the Americas and
parts of the Pacific
including Hawaii and
Easter Island.
“The Skynet 5
constellation consists
of the world’s most
powerful, nuclear
hardened and protected,
military X-band and UHF
satellites,” said Colin
Paynter, Head of Airbus
Defence and Space UK.
“With the move of Skynet
5A, we will expand the
availability of our
premium secure MILSATCOM
services to allied
nations in the region
who need high grade
resilient and secure
communications services
to complement their
existing systems.”
