Eads-Astrium has awarded Indra the turnkey project to develop the in-orbit test system for the Skynet V military communications satellite, ordered from Eads-Astrium by Paradigm.
The project, valued at half a million euros, was won by the Spanish company against four other international tenders from companies in the aerospace sector and is a considerable boost for Indra's in-orbit satellite testing technology.
The main purpose of the Spanish company's system will be to carry out all the tests to guarantee the perfect operation of all parts of the satellite during its lifetime once it has reached its final position in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres above the Earth. Software applications will run a series of routines and automatic programs to test all the satellite's vital parts via a radio link.
Skynet V is currently being built by Eads-Astrium and will be operated by Paradigm to provide communications services to the British government, NATO and other potential clients. It is scheduled to go into operation in mid- 2007.
The Skynet V satellite will provide communications capacity in its coverage area in several military frequency bands for use by a wide variety of networks and user terminals on both land, at sea and in the air.
