The UK's next-generation military communications satellite, Skynet 6A, has successfully completed the docking of its communications and service modules.
The spacecraft, designed and built at Airbus’s Stevenage and Portsmouth factories, will provide vital communications services to the British Armed Forces and has reached this important milestone at the National Satellite Test Centre (NSTF) in Harwell, Oxfordshire. The NSTF is operated by RAL Space, part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Airbus’ Skynet satellite programme has provided sovereign capability to the UK Armed Forces for the past 50 years, and Spacecraft 6A builds on this wealth of national experience to incorporate new and innovative capabilities to meet the ever-changing needs of our Armed Forces in the near future.
This is the first time a large communications satellite in geostationary orbit (GEO) has been docked in the UK. Skynet 6A is also the first spacecraft to use the new NSTF during RAL Space’s first year of operation; earlier this year, 6A’s antennas were successfully tested at the NSTF’s electromagnetic compatibility facility.
