Page 35 - memoria_hisdesat_2020

tium led by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space in Spain
and France in 2020. Likewise, during the year ad-
ditional disbursements amounting to 150 million
Euros (out of the 750 million Euros available) were
made using financing from the Ministry of Commer-
ce and Tourism.

Significant progress has also been made in the am-
bit of Earth Observation, both in the technical and
operational areas and in the commercial area. This
Evaluation of the business line is progressing steadily and according to

financial year in plan, having signed highly relevant contracts in 2020
that will ensure continued revenue growth next year.
perspective Finally, our satellite AIS services have also increa-

sed their contribution to annual turnover, with new
The general difficulties that have characterised the agreements and services for various clients. The
past year have also affected Hisdesat, requiring the strategic agreement with Airbus, offering services
incorporation of new procedures and modes of wor- based on images from the constellation comprising
king in order to maintain our activity at all times, the radar satellites of the two operators fused with
both because it is considered critical infrastructure AIS data, offers a differentiating value proposition
and because of the need to keep the strategic servi- with increasing returns for the company.
ces provided to the Ministry of Defence operational.

To fulfil this mission, as a company we have made
significant advances with our strategy of maintaining
continuity of the SATCOM services until such time as
the new SPAINSAT NG satellites enter into service. To
this end, the XTAR-EUR satellite located at 29°E was
acquired from the company XTAR LLc in July 2020,
thus allowing us to launch a new, higher capacity and
more competitive service proposal using two diffe-
rent orbital positions simultaneously.

At the same time, the SPAINSAT NG programme,
comprising two satellites orbiting at 30°W and 29°E
respectively, is progressing according to schedule
and has achieved critical milestones such as the Pre-
liminary Design Review.

The Framework Agreement that has regulated the
provision of services to the Ministry of Defence since
the start of operations with the SPAINSAT and XTAR-
EUR satellites ended in 2020. As an interim solution
until the new SPAINSAT NG satellites are operational,
a new agreement has been reached with the Minis-
try, covering the provision of satellite communica-
tions from 2021 to 2024.

In relation to the programme under construction,
significant investments were made in the consor-
© Hisdesat

ANNUAL REPORT 2020 | HISDESAT | 35