Through
an innovative Astrium Services solution, military and government
customers can purchasesatellite communications services to suit their
national and international requirement. This bespoke approach of
purchasing just the milsatcoms as required means customers do not need
to take on the capital investment (and risk) of procurement and
management of assets - enabling them to concentrate on their core
missions.
The European ’one-stop-shop’ provider for milsatcom services,
Astrium Services meets customers’ requirements with highly competitive
end-to-end solutions and seamless management - a rapid-response
service, tailored to individual needs, in a highly cost-effective
pay-as-you-use framework; intelligent packaging of both military and
commercial bandwidth, for all the benefits of a robust, sophisticated
secure communications network when resilience is required and the
financial advantages of a commercial service at lower levels of
protection.
Astrium Services’ company Paradigm is the first ever commercial
provider of secure military satellite communications services. The UK
MoD selected Paradigm to deliver a global secure satellite
communications service through to 2020 for its next-generation Skynet 5
programme under a PFI approach. With this ground-breaking contract the
UK MoD pays for the services and capacity it requires and not the
satellite infrastructure as in traditional procurement. All UK secure
satellite communications needs, including maintenance and operation of
the complete ground infrastructure, are delivered by Paradigm.
Following this flexible service-provision model, Paradigm is also
delivering managed secure military satellite services to a number of
other countries and organisations including a 15-year deal for NATO.
The first two Skynet 5A and 5B were launched in 2007, Skynet 5C in 2008.
Astrium Services, with ND SatCom, is leading the team which has been
awareded by the German Forces (Bundeswehr) with the delivery and
operation of its Satcom Bw Stage 2 programme. This will enable Germany,
for the first time, to use its own satellites in combination with a
significantly enhanced ground communications network and control
system. Command centres, vehicles, aircraft and ships in their mission
areas will be linked directly into the base communications networks for
voice, video, database access, and IP services. The 10-year programme
is managed by MilSat Services GmbH, a special-purpose joint venture
company established by Astrium Services and Friedrichshafen-based ND
SatCom. The contract, signed in July 2006, covers the in-orbit delivery
of two communications satellites for operations in military
frequencies, their operation, including an anchor station, the supply
of the ground user terminal segment and upgrading the central command,
control and network management centres already installed in Germany.
Additionally, Astrium Services operated Ku- and C-band capacity for
Bundeswehr.
Under the French MoD’s ASTEL-S convention, Astrium Services was
selected in 2005 to meet ever-increasing requirements for secure and
non-secure satellite communications capacity, to complement existing
national resources. Under the contract, the company supplies the French
armed forces (joint staff, army, navy and air force) with satellite
telecommunications services in both the civilian Ku- and C-bands and
the military SHF-band. The rapid-response, global service is available
on demand, for land, sea and air applications.
Astrium Services is investing in a dedicated satellite gateway at
its site in Toulouse, France. This new facility will enable control and
management of its satellite communication service (voice and data) and
complements the existing ground stations owned and operated by Astrium
Services in the UK and Germany.
