Finally, the Spainsat is already on its way to its orbit after an incident launch. This is the first of the two New Generation Spainsat satellites. The launch has been carried out aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, from Spacex, from Cabo Cañaveral, in the United States. Operated by Hisdesat for the Spanish Armed Forces, The most advanced safe communications satellite in Europe that operates in the UHF, KA and X bands, will enter into service in geostationary orbit from the second semester of 2025, after the initial tests and their commissioning.
“The launch of Spainsat NG-I with Vanguardia safe communications technology enabled by our Eurostar Neo platform, It is a great step for Spanish and European sovereignty. Its innovative payload, which represents more than 45% of the satellite, has developed thanks to a joint effort of the Spanish space industry, led by Airbus, ”said Alain Fauré, head of space systems on Airbus Defense and Space.
Designed for safe military communications, satellites incorporate what Airbus calls “A latest generation direct radiation (DRA) system, which also incorporates advanced characteristics such as the ability to change between different coverage areasthe ability to adapt the coverage areas to reduce unwanted signals and the ability to locate land emitters of known or unknown origin with great precision ”.
The antennas include some reconfigurable X Band Active for Transmission and Reception, and the drop -down platform with institutionally Orientable KA Antennas. The first are the most demanding active antennas that have ever developed in Europe, What places Hisdesat and the Spanish space industry at the forefront of space technology in active antennas. Band transmission and reception provides functionality equivalent to 16 traditional antennas.
For its part, The software allows them to adapt and change coverage up to 1,000 times per second and can detect, geolocate and mitigate multiple and simultaneous interference with great precision. The satellite is also reinforced against radiation to protect it from a possible nuclear explosion.
The satellites, Designed to have an operational life of 15 yearswill provide an increase of ten times in the communications capacity with respect to the previous generation, which will allow the transmission of more data more quickly and with a coverage of more than two thirds of the land surface.