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| News
2008 |
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14/11/2008
The SICRAL 1B satellite will be launched in January 2009. Telespazio to manage the launch and early operation services
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The SICRAL 1B satellite, built by Thales
Alenia Space, has completed the integration
and test phase and arrived in California,
where it will begin the preparation campaign
for launch, which will take place in January
2009 from the Sea Launch platform in the
Pacific Ocean. Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales
company, will manage the launch services
for SICRAL 1B, the launch and early orbit
phase (LEOP) and the subsequent testing
phases.
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SICRAL 1B will provide strategic and tactical
communications services for the Italian
armed forces, in Italy and abroad, as well
as ensuring mobile communications with land,
naval and air platforms. It will also provide
NATO forces with UHF and SHF satcom capabilities
based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed
in 2004 by the Italian, French and British
ministries of defense and the Atlantic Alliance.
Thales Alenia Space, as prime contractor,
was responsible for building the new military
communications satellite and some parts
of the ground-based segment, including the
Telecommunications Control Centre in Vigna
di Valle, while the Satellite Contro Centre
was built by Telespazio.
Telespazio has invested directly in the
SICRAL 1B programme and will
have its own satellite capacity, allowing
the company to offer telecommunications
services to NATO and the European defence
market.
SICRAL 1B is designed to
meet the evolving requirements of the Italian
defense ministry and NATO, and will work
in tandem with the first SICRAL satellite,
launched in 2001. SICRAL 1B’s design life
stretches from 2009 to 2021, and it will
be joined by SICRAL 2, expected to be in
service as of 2012.
Comunicato
stampa
Sea Lauch Press release
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