Airbus will deliver an end-to-end solution, including design and manufacture of the Optus 11 spacecraft, as well as an advanced digital suite to manage the digital payload and operate the end-to-end satellite resources, providing Optus with a turnkey system and the ability to add hosted payloads such as SBAS.

What sets Optus 11 apart is its ability to adjust its coverage, capacity and frequency, through on board processing and active antennas with beam forming capability. It will deliver power and bandwidth dynamically to strengthen capacity and resilience of Optus fleet and enable Optus to configure and adapt the payload mission to end-user needs, taking advantage of the latest innovations in payload and resource management.

Optus 11 will deliver a combination of broadcast and broadband VHTS missions in Ku band over Australia and New Zealand, to improve Direct to Home broadcasting over the Australasia region, increase reach in the Antarctic and Pacific zones and support growth into mobile markets, helping eliminate connectivity black spots through the Australian Government’s Mobile Black Spot programme.

Airbus’ ‘ready-made’ OneSat satellite builds on the company’s heritage from its highly reliable Eurostar telecommunications satellites, which have clocked up more than 800 years of successful operation in orbit.

This order further strenghtens Airbus’ leadership in new generation reconfigurable telecommunications satellites and enables Optus with the option to add additional spacecraft in the near future.

The investments made by Airbus and its partners in very innovative OneSat developments are supported by the European Space Agency and national agencies, in particular the UK and French space agencies.

Source:  Airbus
Associated URL: airbus.com

Copernicus is a satellite Earth observation program of the European Commission and the European Space Agency ESA. It provides Earth observation data for environmental protection, climate monitoring, natural disaster assessment and other social tasks.

In addition, ESA's Industrial Policy Committee (IPC) has approved OHB System's proposal for the HERA asteroid defense mission for final negotiations. Implementation of the HERA mission has already commenced. The contract is expected to be worth around EUR 130 million.

Source:  OHB
Associated URL: ohb.de

Prometheus 1 is a software defined radio, connected to a 400 MHz UHF antenna that can be reprogrammed in orbit. It will be able to survey radio spectrum usage across the world from orbit, detect radar tracking of the Faraday-1 satellite, and identify and locate search and rescue beacons. Airbus is working with the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) to foster greater partnerships between SMEs, government and Airbus on space.

Airbus Defence and Space in the UK created the self funded Prometheus program to enable the rapid development of agile and innovative payloads using disruptive technology to offer significant capability to customers. Building on Airbus’ proven track record of working with SMEs to create novel capability and prove concepts, the Prometheus programme developed the payload for Faraday-1 in under three months.

Prometheus 1 will prove passive radio frequency sensing in orbit, enabling the technology to be incorporated on future missions where hostile tracking of sovereign spacecraft is likely or possible.

The Airbus newspace team is championing the Prometheus program and a second mission is already in development, which will be cubesats with RF and optical sensors, and features inter satellite links. Prometheus 2 is due for launch in the second half of 2021.

Airbus is working with In Space Missions to offer ‘Space as a Service’ access to capability for DSTL to get involved in experiments with assets in orbit.

Source:  Airbus
Associated URL: airbus.com