ROME - The Sicral 2 telecommunications satellite, a joint undertaking of the Italian Ministry of Defense and the French defense procurement agency (DGA), has arrived at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana for an Ariane 5 launch scheduled for April 15.
After being developed at the Thales Alenia Space plants in Rome, l'Aquila, Cannes and Toulouse, the satellite has been integrated in Rome and Turin facilities and then underwent environmental tests at the company's plant in Cannes. The satellite will now undergo final tests and pre-launch procedures at the Guiana Space Center.
Sicral 2 is a joint program funded by the Italian and French Ministries of Defense, with shares of 68% and 32%, respectively, as part of a broader Framework Agreement between the two countries. This agreement also involves the countries' space agencies and recently led to the launch of the dual-use broadband communications satellite, Athena-Fidus.
The satellite weights 4360Kg with a power of 7KW. It will host a UHF and SHF payload for the Italian mission, a SHF payload for the French mission as well as a payload for remote control, Telemetry and Ranging with use of Expanded Spectrum modulations.
Thales Alenia Space is the main industrial partner in the Sicral 2 program. In line with its role on the Sicral 1 and Sicral 1B missions, Thales Alenia Space was responsible for the space segment, the system ground segment architecture and the development of the mission control and communication center. Telespazio is involved in the ground segment for the design, realization, integration and testing phases of the Satellite Control Center in Vigna di Valle and Fucino.
Moreover, Telespazio took an active role in the development of Sicral 2, contributing part of the development costs and receiving in turn the use of part of the satellite's transmission capacity. It will enable it to offer satellite communications to the armed forces of NATO member countries. Telespazio is also responsible for satellite launch service from Kourou, for early orbit services (LEOP - Launch and Early Orbit Phase) and for satellite first In-Orbit Tests (IOT) from Fucino.
The joint Franco-Italian Sicral purchase is part of a European push to improve interoperability and to combine satellite purchases. While large-scale efforts like MUSIS are proving harder to achieve, smaller scale programs are more common. These include data sharing arrangements between imagery satellites, and joint purchases of communications satellites. As the use of data increases, militaries are increasingly reliant on satellite to transfer data from the battlefield to command centers. Spacecraft like Sicral 2 will help improve data availability.
You have 0 item(s) in your cart