Airbus has completed coupling the communications and service modules for Skynet 6A, marking progress in developing the United Kingdom’s next-generation military communications satellite. The assembly was completed at the National Satellite Test Facility in Harwell, Oxfordshire, operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space.
According to Airbus, Skynet 6A, built at the company’s facilities in Stevenage and Portsmouth, is the first large geostationary communications satellite assembled in the U.K. and the first spacecraft to use the new NSTF in its debut year.
Ben Bridge, chairman of Airbus Defence and Space UK, said the milestone will allow final testing to proceed in Stevenage before environmental trials resume at NSTF later this year.
“The coupling of the communications and service modules represents a huge achievement for our Airbus Defence and Space UK teams in Stevenage, Portsmouth and Newport, who deliver world-class capability to the British government through this sovereign capability,” the executive said in a LinkedIn post.
Bridge noted that the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s next-generation, fully hardened Skynet 6A military satellite has more than three times the capacity of Skynet 5 and is due to enter service in 2027. The satellite is expected to incorporate new technologies and is scheduled for launch by SpaceX in 2026.
Skynet 6A is the first satellite in the Skynet 6 program, which aims to modernize and expand the U.K.’s military satellite communications capabilities. Last December, the MoD ordered the upgraded modems for the Skynet network, which serves the British Armed Forces and allied nations.