Page 10 - hisdeSAT annual report 2011

PRESENTATION
Presentation of the financial year
and for the services provided by the Auto-
matic Identification System of satellite sig-
nals (AIS) for the control of maritime traffic
worldwide. To this must be added the prog-
ress made in the area of the satellite Obser-
vation of Earth, specifically with the devel-
opment of the Paz programme. Currently,
international business represents 37% of
HISDESAT’s total business volume and it is
anticipated that within the next two years
this figure will rise to 50% of its revenue.
Let us review the relevant milestones that
have featured during this last financial year.
To begin with, progress continued apace
with the company’s new programmes,
such as HisNorSat, a joint satellite between
HISDESAT and the Norwegian Armed Forces.
This project is one of the company’s great-
est challenges as it will represent an in-
08 This year brings to a close a decade of ex- vestment of in excess of 300 million eu- 09
istence for HISDESAT, marked by regular and ros, of which 56 per cent corresponds to the
sustained growth, the generation of high- Spanish part and the remaining 44 to the
ly technical employment, the creation and Norwegian part. To this effect, the signa-
launch of innovative satellite programmes ture of the agreement for the tender of the
and continued investment in R+D. We have satellite’s manufacture must be noted, to-
a very positive balance sheet but we still gether with the subsequent approval of a
have a long way to go, full of challenges, government loan to the value of 152 million
and tasked with continuing our progress in euros which guarantees the financing of
the right direction, obtaining the anticipat- the project. The direct participation of na-
ed return on investment and contributing tional companies within the sector has been
towards the expansion of the Spanish aero- agreed for a satellite of this size and com-
space industry. plexity, which may represent a unique op-
portunity to improve their qualification and
For the sixth consecutive year HISDESAT competitiveness at international level.
closes the year with record figures, funda-
mentally due to a commitment to innova- In the field of secure satellite communica-
tion with the launch of new projects, to the tions, a new contract was signed with the
international expansion with sharehold- Danish Army, providing continuity to the
ings in the USA and in Canada and a Proj- services that the Company has been pro-
ect for technological cooperation in satel- viding to this country’s Armed Forces since
lite communications with Norway. Various the year 2005. Thus, HISDESAT strength-
new contracts have been signed within the ens its position in central and northern Eu-
framework of secure governmental commu- rope, where services are regularly supplied
nications by satellite (SpainSat and Xtar-Eur)
to the Ministries of Defence of Belgium and hidden as they pass through the atmo-
Norway. sphere and observes the changes in the sig-
nal received caused by the different atmo-
The total for all investments made during spheric elements and in particular extreme
2011 by the Company in the diverse pro- precipitation. By so doing it will be possible
grammes it maintains has been 24 million to improve forecasts in relation to atmo-
euros, with accumulated investments to- spheric behaviour, such as rain, floods and
date therefore rising to 400 million euros. taking the necessary measures to avoid the
associated potential disasters.
In relation to Earth Observation, it is essen-
tial to mention the work undertaken with In relation to the constellation of satellites
the new Paz satellite, designed to produce with AIS technology, HISDESAT is pursuing
images with radar technology and which this Project through a joint-venture with
will enable our Company to enter into the the Canadian Company exactEarth, hav-
satellite imaging market with latest gen- ing already launched three fully operation-
eration technology. The investment made al satellites. During the system’s first year
in 2011 was of 22 million euros and al- of service, contracts were signed in Canada,
ready represents 82% of the satellite’s con- Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The com-
struction, the launch of which is scheduled plete constellation consisting of ten sat-
for next year. In May of 2011, the satellite ellites will be fully operational in the year
platform was received and we are current- 2014, and will be able to provide updated
ly in the final stages of development. This information on maritime traffic every 90
satellite is proving to be a landmark for the minutes.
aerospace industry as it is making possible
the direct participation in its manufacture HISDESAT brings to a close a successful year
of 17 Spanish companies and institutions, and embarks on a new financial year with
thereby generating both highly technical very clear objectives, such as the generation
employment as well as new capabilities for of confidence in this sector of high tech-
the companies concerned. nological innovation, by driving new space
programmes, the creation of technical jobs
This project also brings with it other impor- and international expansion. In order to
tant technological novelties such as it being achieve this, we will continue committed to
the first time a satellite of these character- the fulfilment of the highest levels of ser-
istics will incorporate Automatic Identifica- vice quality and investment in R+D, which
tion System signals (AIS), thereby permitting will enable us to continue moving forward
simultaneity of data supplied by both sys- with optimism and to achieve expected re-
tems and which would have multiple ap- turns on investments.
plications in the field of international mari-
time traffic.
Also with the Paz satellite, HISDESAT is col- Miguel Ángel Panduro Panadero
laborating with NASA and the CSIC in an in- CEO of HISDESAT
novative scientific experiment in the field
of radio atmospheric occultation which fa-
cilitates the analysis of how GPS signals are