WASHINGTON — Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space will build a replacement military communications satellite for Spain as those two companies, along with Leonardo, continue efforts on a space joint venture.
Airbus announced July 31 that it was selected by Spanish company Hisdesat to be the prime contractor for SpainSat NG 3, a geostationary orbit satellite that will provide communications services for the Spanish military and allies.
Under the contract, Airbus will build the satellite and provide its X-band communications payload. Thales Alenia Space will build the UHF and military Ka-band payloads for the spacecraft.
The satellite, scheduled to be ready for launch in the third quarter of 2030 and enter service in early 2031, will provide services over the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It will operate in conjunction with the existing SpainSat NG 1 spacecraft, which provides services as far east as Singapore.
Neither company mentioned that SpainSat NG 3 is a replacement for SpainSat NG 2. That spacecraft was launched in October 2025 but malfunctioned in January after suffering what Hisdesat said was a “space particle” strike while in its supersynchronous transfer orbit. The particle hit what the operator called a “vital area of the satellite,” and the damage prevented the spacecraft from carrying out its mission.
