Large Spacecraft Contract Fortifies European Group
Mobile data communications satellites for links to laptop and palm computers in many areas of the world will be launched by a new consortium formed by France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Under an approximately $700 million contract, this group, which continues Europe’s space sector consolidation, is scheduled to provide two geosynchronous data satellites for a 2003 launch, with a third as a backup.
Known as Astrium, the new space venture involves France’s Aerospatiale Matra, Germany’s DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) and Britain’s BAE Systems. The contract with Astrium calls for delivery of three Inmarsat-4 spacecraft. The two operational satellites will be placed in geostationary orbit at 54 degrees west longitude and at 64 degrees east longitude to provide Internet links at typical data rates of 432 kilobits per second.
A compact, lightweight antenna will be used to connect a user’s existing notebook computer, according to Aerospatiale Matra officials. Each of the satellites will have 200 spot beams, with beam patterns tailored to cover the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. The Inmarsat-4s also will offer services for mobile communications similar to those provided by Inmarsat-3 satellites but will have expanded capacity.
With a mass of 5 metric tons and payload power of 9 kilowatts, Inmarsat-4s are larger and more powerful than other geostationary mobile communications satellites. The Inmarsat-4 spacecraft is based on the design of the Eurostar 3000, a version of the Eurostar satellite series.
The Astrium group is a follow-on to Matra Marconi Space, formed in 1990, from the core business of Matra Espace and British Aerospace Space Systems. With the addition of Germany’s DASA, the new enterprise is involved in many areas of space activities. Among them are earth resources, civil and military observation, communications, ground-based reception terminals, launch vehicles and orbital infrastructures.
Germany provides four locations at Bremen, Friedrichshafen, Lampoldhausen and Ottobrunn. France has two sites at Vélizy and Toulouse, with 2,200 employees. Britain’s two locations are at Stevenage and Portsmouth. This consolidation makes Astrium highly competitive with U.S. firms, Aerospatiale Matra officials claim.
In addition to Inmarsat, commercial customers include Intelsat, Eutelsat, SES, Singapore Telecom, Chughwa Telecom/Taiwan, Worldspace and Nilesat. In the military sector, the group is involved with Skynet 4/NATO IV, Telecom 2, Hispasat 1A and 1B satellite communications systems, and in development of Skynet 5 and Syracuse III.
Astrium, which began operations in late May, has 7,700 employees and revenues of 2.2 billion pounds ($3.3 billion). The $700 million Inmarsat contract is the largest awarded since the formation of Matra Marconi Space, Aerospatiale Matra officials declare. The group remains heavily involved with France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) on the Spot systems. Spot 5, which will have a resolution of 2.5 meters, is under development, and the Pleiades constellation that includes radar data and optical images will follow. —CAR