The Hispasat 36W-1 satellite of the Spanish satellite operator HISPASAT has been put in orbit by a Soyuz launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana. It carries on-board a unique regenerative payload, RedSAT, developed by the Spanish industry under Thales Alenia Space Spain leadership, in collaboration with HISPASAT and the European Space Agency (ESA).
An exciting and successful venture is now in space courtesy of Thales Alenia Space Spain which brings the most advanced technology in space communications—RedSAT.
Statement from Thales Alenia Space Spain
The Hispasat 36W-1 satellite of the Spanish satellite operator HISPASAT has been put in orbit by a Soyuz launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana. It carries on-board a unique regenerative payload, RedSAT, developed by the Spanish industry under Thales Alenia Space Spain leadership, in collaboration with HISPASAT and the European Space Agency (ESA).
At the fore-front of space communications
Thanks to RedSAT, the H36W-1 satellite embarks the most advanced technology in space communications, providing great flexibility and efficiency. The RedSAT system is composed by a regenerative on-board processor (OBP), a direct radiating antenna (DRA-ELSA) and the ground segment responsible for the control and management of the satellite network.
Up to nine Spanish space companies have contributed to the development of the turnkey system for HISPASAT, under the leadership of Thales Alenia Space Spain, that has also designed and manufactured the on-board processor and the network ground segment. ESA funded 50 percent of the processor’s development costs.
RedSAT brings multiple assets with respect to conventional satellite communication systems, allowing a more agile and efficient use of the on-board power and bandwidth, as well as in-orbit reconfiguration of the satellite footprint. This system will improve the service provision to endusers allowing greater efficiency by the use of smaller user terminals and the establishment of communication among users in a single ‘satellite hop’, reducing service latency to one half, which allows optimal real-time applications such as videoconference, and simplifying the network architecture. All in all thanks to on-board signal regeneration and the coordinated used of the active antenna.
Pioneering digital transformation
Thales Alenia Space Spain is a worldwide reference in the development of satellite communication systems with on-board regenerative signal processing. RedSAT adds up to the AmerHis 1 and 2 systems led by the Spanish company in HISPASAT’s Amazonas 1 and 2 satellites. The company is also the technical responsible for the OBP embarked on the satellites of the Iridium NEXT constellation, the largest commercial satellite communication constellation.
Eduardo Bellido, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Spain, declared: “RedSAT is an example of the leadership of Spanish industry in innovative technologies in a domain as competitive and sophisticated as satellite communications. At Thales Alenia Space Spain we are proud of the confidence and tight cooperation from HISPASAT and ESA, in leading digital transformation of space.”