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Article: First satellite launched in military 'constellation'
- Article from:
- Professional Engineering
- Article date:
- March 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Professional Engineering Publishing Ltd Mar 21, 2007. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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£3.6bn trio of spacecraft marks major upgrade in capacity and puts MoD and armed forces in powerful position until 2020
ONE OF the world's most powerful military communication satellites has been launched from Kourou, French Guiana.
Skynet 5A, designed and manufactured by Astrium UK, is the first of three satellites built on behalf of the Ministry of Defence in a contract worth £3.6 billion.
Astrium is the prime contractor on the project, which aims to provide resilient and secure long-range communications services to the MoD, armed forces and other government agencies until 2020.
The launch of the satellite was delayed by 24 hours after the launcher, an Ariane 5 rocket, experienced ...