PARIS, 18 June 2013. Astrium, a leading space technology company in Europe, is showcasing Alphasat, considered by some to be the world’s most sophisticated commercial telecommunications satellite ever built, during Paris Air Show. Designed and manufactured by Astrium, it is scheduled for launch in the summer of 2013.
The following systems and services are being presented at Astrium’s stand (La Rotonde, Hall 2A, Stand A253), at the EADS Pavilion (end of Row A), and the static display area (outside the Pavilion):
Telecommunications:
- Ka-band, for broadband applications: in particular, KA-SAT (Europe’s first Ka-band satellite, dedicated to Internet access, built by Astrium) as well as civil and military Ka-band services offered by Astrium.
- Astrium’s VIP GSM bubble service which combines satellite telecommunications with mobile telephony, deployable in a matter of minutes to provide a GSM network independent of local telecommunication networks.
- Equipment for telecommunications satellites manufactured in Europe and exported around the world.
Access to space and mastering space:
- Ariane 5, the most reliable commercial launcher currently in service, for which Astrium is the prime contractor and which has just achieved its 55th consecutive successful launch.
- Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), designed and built by Astrium, ferries propellant, food, water and equipment to the International Space Station (ISS)
- Ballistic missile defence (BMD) and the EGIDE battle lab.
Earth observation:
- GO-3S: real-time video from space thanks to an Earth-observation satellite system in geostationary orbit capable of generating 5 images per second, anytime, anywhere.
- I4D: an Astrium geo-intelligence solution to access, merge and analyse all kinds of intelligence information (SIGINT, Imint, Humint) by means of a virtual globe.
- WorldDEM™: a digital elevation model of the Earth, with unmatched accuracy, developed thanks to Astrium’s radar satellites.
- The ‘in-orbit proven’ Pléiades and SPOT 6 satellites, which together form the only constellation in the world capable of taking high-resolution and very high-resolution images of a selected point anywhere on Earth on a daily basis.
Navigation:
- Galileo, the high-performance European navigation system, of which the four IOV (In-Orbit Validation) satellites, designed and built by Astrium, are operating perfectly in orbit with the required level of accuracy.
