Finmeccanica, Thales Launch SICRAL2 Telecommunications Satellite

Finmeccanica announced Monday that it along with Thales has jointly launched the military telecommunications satellite, SICRAL 2 on April 26 from French Guiana.

The satellite was launched with an Arianespace launch vehicle by Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio, the Space Alliance created by Finmeccanica and Thales.

The French Italian military satellite will have a service life exceeding 15 years, positioned at 37°E in the geostationary orbit. It will enhance the satellite communications capabilities already provided for Italy by SICRAL 1 and SICRAL 1B (launched in 2001 and 2009) and for France by Syracuse 3A and 3B (launched in 2005 and 2006).

SICRAL 2 is a joint programme between the Ministry of Defense in Italy and DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) in France for the benefit of Italian and French armed forces, with respective stakes of 62% and 38%.

SICRAL 2 will ensure interoperability with existing satellite systems, NATO traffic terminals and current national telecommunications networks.

The satellite will provide strategic and tactical satellite communications services, supporting military land, sea and air platforms used by Armed Forces to guarantee internal and external security.

The satellite weights 4360Kg with a power of 7KW.  It will host the most technologically advanced equipment dedicated to an UHF and SHF payload for the Italian mission, a SHF payload for the French mission as well as a payload for remote control, Telemetry and Ranging with use of Expanded Spectrum modulations.