France awards Comsat NG contract
The French defence procurement agency has awarded a contract to a consortium formed by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space to build and deliver the Comsat NG military satellite communications system.
The consortium will construct and launch two military communications satellites to replace the Syracuse 3A satellites launched in 2005 and Syracuse 3B satellites launched in 2006, for the French armed forces. The contract will also see construction of the ground control and mission facilities.
The refurbishment of ground stations in France, and maintenance and operating support for 17 years is also included in the contract.
The consortium is 65% Thales Alenia Space and 35% Airbus Defence and Space. Thales Alenia Space will be responsible for relations with the DGA as a lead contractor.
The new satellites will enter in service in 2021. They will have identical X and Ka-band payloads and will have a design life of 15 years. One of the satellites will use the Eurostar 3000 platform and the other one will be built on the full electric Spacebus Neo platform.
The Comsat NG satellites will extend and enhance the mission carried out by the Syracuse satellites in terms of exchanging information between mainland France and theatres of operation, and between different theatres. They will also address growing data capacity requirements, driven in large part by the increased use of video transmissions.
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