Skynet 6A [Airbus]
The Skynet 6A gap-filler military communications satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space to cover the gap between the Britisch Skynet-5 network and its successor.
Skynet 6A was solesourced from Airbus Defence and Space in 2017, but was not fully funded until July 2020. Aibus will build the Skynet-6A satellite in the United Kingdom and arrange a 2025 launch. RAL Space, a U.K. national laboratory, will test the all-electric satellite at its facility in Harwell. Skynet-6A, based on the Eurostar-Neo platform, is expected to provide communications services for the British military until at least 2040.
The U.K. has not yet decided on a successor to its Skynet-5 network, which consists of four X-band and Ultra-High-Frequency geostationary satellites. Airbus manages the Skynet-5 network, but its contract expires in 2022. Britain’s Ministry of Defence has been evaluating new technologies such as very high throughput satellites and low-Earth-orbit megaconstellations as it prepares an architecture for the Skynet-5 successor.
Nation: | UK |
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Type / Application: | Military communication |
Operator: | UK MoD |
Contractors: | Airbus Defense and Space |
Equipment: | ? |
Configuration: | Eurostar-Neo |
Propulsion: | ? |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 15 years |
Mass: | |
Orbit: | GEO |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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Skynet 6A | - | 2025 | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) |