Page 11 - hisdeSAT annual report 2011
P. 11

PRESENTATION



 Presentation of the financial year





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