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proporcionado imágenes de “PAZ” a la Defensa Civil Colom- as a “Strategic Company” and “Critical Entity”, had to conti-
biana para identificar daños del huracán Iota. nue sailing at undiminished speed, it thus proceeded to “clear
the decks” in order to weather the storm, making tasks more
Por último, ante tanto “bien hecho” reitero el “BRAVO flexible by instituting remote working as necessary, while still
ZULU” a todas las mujeres y hombres de Hisdesat. Nue- maintaining the essential “guards” in the control centres of
vamente me pongo a disposición de todos los accionistas the land segments. We also applied the changing rules for the
reiterando el honor y la satisfacción que el cargo y su con- prevention of infections – it turns out effectively as shown by
fianza me producen. the results. In this way, we successfully weathered the rough
seas and fulfilled our mandate, that of providing today and
Les saluda atentamente, guaranteeing in the future the satellite communications and
Santiago Bolíbar Piñeiro intelligence capabilities required by the Ministry of Defence
Presidente del Consejo de Administración de Hisdesat (MINISDEF), the Army and the Navy, maintaining the highest
levels of cost-effectiveness, and keeping Hisdesat operative.

Thus, in the SATCOM area, we continued to provide satellite
services to our main users, the Ministry of Defence and other
Dear State agencies, who have expressed their total satisfaction; as
well as to our other national and foreign clients, among which
shareholders I would like to mention the Portuguese Armed Forces and va-
rious United States Government agencies.

It is an honour for me to once again introduce these pages In this regard, due to its importance for the personnel of the
summarising something as important as the times experien- Armed Forces stationed abroad, we should highlight the fact
ced by Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos S.A. in 2020. I say “ex- that the “SAPZO” programme, the “Network for personnel
perienced”, because this year, we have all lived through excep- assistance and security for military personnel stationed in
tional circumstances that need no further explanation. The operational zones”, has continued expanding into areas
worst consequence of this has been the loss of many lives, such as Bangui in the Central African Republic, as well as
so the very first thing I would like to do is send my heartfelt bases and units like the ship Hespérides; that it has activated
condolences to all families who have lost a loved one, as well its X-band service, and above all that it has attained accep-
as to the companies who have lost colleagues. Our thoughts tance among users and the Ministry of Defence, who see it
are also with all those who have suffered from this disease as a way to securely improve conditions, thereby increasing
themselves or who have witnessed family members doing so, morale in the Force.
along with the hardship that this occasioned at times, and if it
has not occurred as yet I would like to wish them all a speedy Regarding the construction process of the new SPAINSAT
and full recovery. NG-I and NG-II satellites, we can state with great satisfaction
that they are on schedule, having reached and fulfilled all
In previous years, I summarised this occasion with a well de- milestones so far. This despite the difficulties during 2020,
served “well done” – that ¨Bravo Zulu¨ you all know already which have caused some minor delays to elements of a few
and that last year I said should be displayed with oversized Development and Verification Models (DVM), although we
flags because of the objectives and milestones achieved. are working to ensure that these to not affect the planned
Well, this year we should again hoist those big flags, as once schedule. Most of the PDRs of the payload units have been
more we have reached noteworthy strategic objectives and exceeded and these are entering the detailed design phase,
attained good financial results, with the company objectives finalising with the satellite CDR in 2021. As already mentio-
being met at the highest level. But all this has been achieved ned, this is highly commendable for the companies involved
during difficult, extraordinary circumstances that, whether and for Hisdesat.
we are conscious of it or not, have affected us all, and which
make these achievements all the more remarkable. Achie- As for the “Pathfinder” strategy for covering the interval be-
ving the extraordinary during extraordinary times has twice tween the two generations of satellites in the best possible
the merit, thus the well-earned ¨Bravo Zulu¨ goes to all the way, work continued on the three defined axes. The first was
Hisdesat staff and the companies that have contributed to the purchase of XTAR-EUR, finalised on 1 July, which gives us
those achievements. autonomy in the continuity of services and allows us to offer
and manage capacity for MINISDEF with a “Space drone”.
We have of course navigated storms before, but nothing like
what happened in 2020. To international uncertainty and Regarding this second axis, the acquisition of a “space dro-
a provisional situation nationally, we had to add Covid-19 , ne”, we have continued working on the two options on offer,
which affected internal and outward mobility and therefore but neither entity has so far offered us a definitive contract.
our form of working, necessitating exceptional measures to We are therefore still waiting, but approaching the deadline
ensure the “Prevention of Occupational Hazards”. Hisdesat, that would justify this expense.

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