Page 24 - hisdeSAT annual report 2015

HISDE S AT ANNU AL REPOR T 2 015

2.4

THE HISDESAT

SATELLITE SYSTEM

THE SECURE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

The national governmental communications
programme makes us of the SpainSat and the
Xtar-Eur satellites.
nistry of Foreign Affairs, the
The SpainSat satellite, located at orbital position Ministry of the Interior and
30º West, allows simultaneous coverage of most the Spanish National Re-
of Europe, North Africa and some parts of the search Council (CSIC).
Middle East. On the other side of the Atlantic,
SPAINSAT coverage extends to South and Central Ameri- At international level, secu-
re communications servi-
ca and much of North America. Thirteen X-band ces are provided to the US
transponders and one high-powered K-band Defense Department, the
transponder are used, allowing for secure, high- Norwegian Ministry of De-
quality communications.
fence, and, through the in-
The Xtar-Eur satellite, positioned at 29º East, vestee company Xtar LLc.,
has 12 X-band transponders and offers covera- to the US State Department
ge from Brazil to Indonesia, including Europe, and various US governmen-
Africa, the Middle East and much of Asia. With tal agencies.
these two satellites, Hisdesat can offer its secure Hisdesat has for years pro-
communications service over two thirds of the vided regular and unin-
Earth’s surface.
terrupted secure satellite
The satellites are operated from ground con- communications services to
trol centres in Arganda del Rey (Madrid) and the Ministry of Defence, in-
Maspalomas (Gran Canaria), for SpainSat; and cluding all the international
in Ottawa (Canada) and Mt. Jackson (Virginia, missions of the Spanish Ar-
USA), for Xtar-Eur. med Forces. These services
have also been extended to
This satellite system has a minimum expected other government organiza-
lifespan of fifteen years. It became operational tions like the Ministry of Fo-
in 2006 and is therefore expected to meet the reign Affairs, the Ministry of
requirements of the Spanish Ministry of Defence Interior, and the CSIC, there-
until 2021. In addition, services are provided to by making Hisdesat a leading
other national governmental bodies like the Mi- operator in national security
HISDESAT LORAL programmes, defence and
intelligence.

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