Airbus signs contract with Intelsat

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

European airplane manufacturer – Airbus- and Intelsat have signed a contract to build two OneSat satellites in multiple frequency bands for Intelsat’s next-generation software-defined network. The satellites will be delivered in 2023.

According to Intelsat, OneSat is designed to deliver the optimal balance between performance, flexibility and competitive cost per bit.

The satellites will be based on Airbus’ OneSat product line, the latest generation of fully flexible, in orbit reconfigurable software defined satellites (SDS).

Airbus, which recently celebrated the delivery of the company’s first United States-assembled A220 aircraft, will be delivering an end-to-end fully integrated solution, including design and manufacture of the satellites.

Head, Airbus Space Systems, Jean-Marc Nasr said the contract with a long-standing and valued partner Intelsat, has a special significance for Airbus.

“With six satellites in production – plus options – for three major operators, OneSat has proven that when it comes to fully reconfigurable satellites, Airbus is the winning choice. Our new industrial capabilities put in place at our sites across Europe, together with our solid experience in Eurostar geostationary satellites and mega-constellation manufacturing, will enable production of our truly disruptive OneSats at an unrivalled pace,” Nasr said.

Intelsat said  the agreement marked the beginning of a radical evolution of Intelsat’s network with the company pursuing an aggressive, multi-year network transformation plan with investments in new assets designed for extremely high speeds, enhanced capacity flexibility, redundancy and backwards compatibility.

Chief Executive Officer Intelsat, Stephen Spengler said  the company’s investment in Airbus software defined satellites marks an important first step in evolving the world’s largest, most resilient, integrated space and ground network, noting that Intelsat’s next-generation software-defined network will be the catalyst for our growth, enabling future Gogo Commercial Aviation inflight broadband services, as well as other managed services across Intelsat’s customer segments.