Page 10 - memoria_hisdesat_2020

Presentation quency bands: X, Military Ka and UHF; and features impor-

tant technological innovations like active X-band antennas
of the 2020 that are reconfigurable in orbit. These represent the biggest
challenge in terms of technological development and are led
financial year by the Spanish Space industry with Airbus DS System Spain
at the helm.

It is important to highlight the boost Hisdesat provides for
The 2020 financial year was again very positive both quanti- the national Space industry with all its programmes, and
tatively and qualitatively, despite the operational difficulties even more so with SPAINSAT NG. The direct participation
that the extraordinary situation created by the COVID-19 of Spanish industry in the satellites is greater than 40%. It
pandemic imposed upon us. is responsible for all payloads, with TAS Spain taking care of
the UHF and Ka military band payloads and Airbus DS Sys-
In this context, I would like to highlight the work carried out tem Spain developing the X-band payload.
by the State Security Forces and Corps and by our Armed
Forces during this crisis. We felt completely aligned with Additionally, operation of the PAZ synthetic aperture radar
their goals, and proud of our modest contribution to their satellite has continued during 2020, which has made it pos-
mission through technological assistance. From the begin- sible to meet the operational objectives of the Spanish Minis-
ning of Operation Balmis, a glorious evocation of the first try of Defence and other clients that have continued joining
international health mission in history that saved millions of the system. During the year we completed the modifications
lives, Hisdesat has provided our capabilities free of charge to to the ground segment which were necessary for the incor-
the Government of Spain via the Ministry of Defence. These poration of the new radar observation modes: very high re-
included countrywide secure satellite communications to su- solution Staring Spotlight with a pixel size of up to 25 cm,
pport the Operation, which meant that units of the UME, the and Wide Scan SAR with a large image width reaching 270
Army, the Navy and the Air Force could be deployed in the km. This has opened up greater commercial opportunities
various cities of our country and assist citizens everywhere. and will continue doing so for the coming years, for instance
with SATCEN and EMSA.
Looking at our income statement, the 2020 results are bet-
ter than expected – mainly due to higher income and savings Advances in the PAZ-2 programme, the future replacement
in operating expenses, which at € 57, 67 million euros has led of the current one, have been of special relevance. Work
to a higher EBITDA than the budgeted € 49.64 million euros towards completing the preliminary stages for the imple-
and represents an increase of 8 million euros. mentation of the programme has continued both interna-
lly and with the Ministry of Defence. In the second half of
From a qualitative point of view, the SPAINSAT NG program- the year an RFI was issued to national industry players, thus
me has progressed in line with its planning, successfully enabling progress in the definition of the new satellite, with
achieving the PDR (Preliminary Design Review) milestones Airbus DS System Spain at the helm.
for the payloads and all components, including the Pacis 3 At the end of the year, and in conjunction with the entire
elements (DRA antennas, military Ka-band pallet and an- national industry, Expressions of Interest were prepared for
tennas, and system-level X-band payload), as well as the full the development of two pivotal programmes: PAZ-2 (very
satellite PDR. The loan granted by the Ministry of Industry, high resolution radar) and MARCO-1 (Very High Resolution
Commerce and Tourism has continued to be used to finance Optical Component). This was initiated by the Ministry of In-
the programme. The entire Hisdesat staff continues to be dustry, Commerce and Tourism calling for possible leading
highly motivated and excited to be carrying out this complex programmes as part of the European Recovery, Transfor-
programme with a large R&D component over the next 4 mation and Resilience Funds. These are programmes that,
years. Without a doubt, with our good work and that of all in addition to helping our Space industry to recover and
the industries accompanying us in this programme, we will transform, will contribute to the digitisation and monitoring
achieve the desired success. of Spanish, European and world territories and to environ-
mental surveillance.
This is the most strategic project of the company since its
foundation, due to run for the next 19 years. It will replace Also during 2020 and in order to ensure continuity for Mi-
the current secure communications satellites SpainSat and nistry of Defence secure satellite communications, the
XTAR-Eur, and provide greater capacity, flexibility, security XTAR-Eur satellite was purchased. This satellite has already
and resilience for the satellite communications of the Spani- reached its nominal lifespan of 15 years, but reserve prope-
sh Armed Forces and other national and international clients llant remains that will allow extending its lifespan in orbit
including NATO, the European Union (as part of the GOVSAT- by nearly two more years. Lifespan extension studies were
COM programme), and other allied and friendly countries continued by means of a space vehicle that was coupled to
such as the US, Portugal, Norway etc. The SPAINSAT NG XTAR-Eur in order to analyse the various solutions that are
satellites comprise three missions in three simultaneous fre- currently under consideration.

10 | HISDESAT | INFORME ANUAL 2020