Satcom: SES offers Thales Alenia Space a serene end of year – La Tribune

And four in 2021! After obtaining the order for the Italian secure telecoms system Sicral 3 in June and then for the Indonesian satellite PT Telkom Satelit Indonesia (Telkomsat) in October, Thales Alenia Space (TAS) will also manufacture the ASTRA 1P and ASTRA 1Q geostationary telecom satellites on behalf of SES. The joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) announced on Thursday that it had recently signed a contract with the Luxembourg satellite operator SES for the supply of two fully electric Ku-band telecom satellites. They should be launched in 2024. This order has already been included in SES’s current capital expenditure plan for the period 2021-2025.

They will join SES’s main orbital position of 19.2 degrees East in order to maintain premium services for its European video customers and to capture new opportunities in the region. These two replacement satellites will serve a record 118 million homes. That is more than 43% of European TV households. The majority of satellite homes in Germany, Spain and France are currently covered by ASTRA satellites. The number of TV homes receiving HD content from these satellites has grown by around 30% over the past five years.

“Our leading TV position of 19.2 degrees East is one of our most valuable assets and has enabled prestigious European broadcasters to increase their TV audiences for 30 years. These two satellites will provide resilience, reliability and redundancy. that our video customers are acclaimed, and will be able to continue to deliver premium services until 2040 “, assured SES CEO Steve Collar.

First contract for the Space Inspire line

While ASTRA 1P will be manufactured from the 100% electric Spacebus NEO platform already proven in orbit, ASTRA 1Q will be the first satellite designed from the new Space Inspire product line (INstantSPace In-orbitREconfiguration). This innovative satellite product line makes it possible to reconfigure the missions and services of telecom satellites, to adjust them to demand instantaneously in orbit. This will be the case for ASTRA 1Q, a next generation software-defined satellite with both wide and narrow beams at high speed. SES will thus be able to meet the changing needs of its video and data customers for years to come. “We will be injecting a high level of flexibility into ASTRA 1Q to be sure to keep pace with the needs of all the markets we serve”, said Steve Collar.

“We will meet the needs of our client by offering our fully electric and proven Spacebus NEO product line, as well as our software-defined solution Space Inspire embedding major innovations to adapt to the environment of new generation satcoms “, explained the CEO by TAS, Hervé Derrey.

The Space Inspire product line embeds a new design and architecture adapted to the environment of new generation satcoms, particularly with regard to flexible payloads and multiple launch capabilities. In addition, it involves a new industrial organization of mass production reducing the cost of satellites and supply times. Finally, it injects breakthrough technologies allowing European industries to be at the forefront of innovation.