Spainsat NG

{{Short description|Spanish communications satellite program}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox space program

| name = Spainsat NG program

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| country = {{ESP}}

| organization = Hisdesat

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| purpose = Communications

| status = In development

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| duration = 2024–2040 (forecast)

| firstflight = Spainsat NG I
{{launch time|January 29, 2025|04|00|00|EST|net=yes}}{{cite web |url=https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7045 |title=SPAINSAT New Generation I |website=Next Spaceflight |access-date=January 14, 2025 }}

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| lastflight = Spainsat NG II (June 2025){{cite web |last=Pons |first=Juan |url=https://www.atalayar.com/en/articulo/new-technologies-innovation/hisdesat-and-defence-unveil-the-spanish-military-satellite-that-holds-the-most-secrets/20240422122509199207.html |title=Hisdesat and Defence unveil the Spanish military satellite that holds the most secrets |work=Atalayar |date=22 April 2024 |access-date=5 July 2024}}

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| launcher = Falcon 9 Block 5

}}

Spainsat NG is a Spanish communications satellite program aimed at developing next-generation satellites to meet Spain's government and military secure communications needs.{{Cite web|date=13 July 2019|title=Hisdesat y el Ministerio de Defensa de España firman acuerdo por SpainSAT NG|url=http://latamsatelital.com/hisdesat-ministerio-defensa-espana-firman-acuerdo-spainsat-ng/|website=LATAM Satelital|language=Spanish}}

The industrial management of the program is carried out by a consortium of four contractors: Airbus Defense and Space in Spain and France, and Thales Alenia Space in Spain and France.{{Cite web|date=18 July 2019|title=Hisdesat designa a Airbus y Thales Alenia Space para construir los satélites SPAINSAT NG|url=https://www.tedae.org/es/noticias/hisdesat-designa-a-airbus-y-thales-alenia-space-para-construir-los-satelites-spainsat-ng|website=TEDAE|language=Spanish}}{{Cite web|date=6 May 2019|title=Airbus inks two-satellite deal with Spain's satellite operator Hisdesat|url=https://spacenews.com/airbus-inks-two-satellite-deal-with-spains-satellite-operator-hisdesat/|website=SpaceNews}}{{Cite web|date=6 May 2019|title=Airbus y Thales Alenia Space construirán dos nuevos satélites Spainsat|url=https://www.europapress.es/economia/red-empresas-00953/noticia-airbus-thales-alenia-space-construiran-dos-nuevos-satelites-spainsat-20190506184939.html|website=www.europapress.es|language=Spanish}} Other companies from the Spanish space sector that will also participate are Acorde, Anteral, Arquimea, Crisa, GMV, Iberespacio, Indra, Sener and Tecnobit.{{Cite web|date=11 July 2019|title=Hisdesat y Defensa firman el contrato del programa Spainsat NG|url=http://www.infoespacial.com/es/2019/07/11/noticia-hisdesat-defensa-blindan-comunicaciones-satelitales-espanolas.html|website=www.infoespacial.com|language=Spanish}} Public participation includes the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Industry, CDTI, INTA and ESA. The satellites operator will be Hisdesat.{{Cite web|date=28 April 2020|title=Hisdesat, dos décadas impulsando la industria espacial de nuestro país|url=https://www.elradar.es/hisdesat-dos-decadas-impulsando-la-industra-espacial-de-nuestro-pais/|website=www.elradar.es|language=Spanish}}

The Spainsat NG program comprises two satellites, Spainsat NG I and Spainsat NG II, which will be located in geostationary orbit and will operate in X-band, military K_a-band and UHF. These satellites will be based on the Eurostar Neo platform, Airbus' new geostationary telecommunications satellite product. This platform is a significant evolution of the reliable Eurostar platform. The communication payloads of both satellites will be provided by the Spanish industry, with Airbus in Spain being responsible for the X-band payload and Thales in Spain being responsible for the K_a and UHF band payloads.

The satellites will have protection against interference, as well as the ability to precisely geolocate the origin of the interference, and will probably also have protection against high altitude nuclear explosions (HANE).{{Cite web|last=Dirección General de Armamento y Material|date=November 2019|title=PROGRAMA SPAINSAT NG|url=https://www.defensa.gob.es/Galerias/dgamdocs/programa-SPAINSAT-NG.pdf|website=Ministerio de Defensa (España)|language=Spanish|access-date=2020-10-24|archive-date=2020-09-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913101423/https://www.defensa.gob.es/Galerias/dgamdocs/programa-SPAINSAT-NG.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The first satellite, Spainsat NG I, will be launched in January 2025 and will occupy the GEO 29° E position, replacing XTAR-EUR. The second one, the Spainsat NG II, will be launched also in 2025 and will occupy the GEO 30° W position, replacing Spainsat. The Spainsat NG satellites will have an operational useful life of 15 years, remaining in service until 2040. Both launches will be performed by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.{{Cite web|date=4 November 2022|title=SpaceX lanzará los satélites españoles SpainSat NG|url=https://www.avionrevue.com/espacio/spacex-lanzara-los-satelites-espanoles-spainsat-ng/|website=Avion Revue|language=Spanish}}

In October 2020, Spainsat NG program successfully passed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR){{Cite web|date=22 October 2020|title=SPAINSAT NG supera con éxito la Revisión preliminar del diseño (PDR)|url=https://www.avionrevue.com/espacio/spainsat-ng-supera-con-exito-la-revision-preliminar-del-diseno-pdr/|website=Avion Revue|language=Spanish}} and in December 2021 it passed the Critical Design Review (CDR).{{Cite web|url=https://www.avionrevue.com/espacio/el-programa-spainsat-ng-supera-con-exito-la-revision-critica-de-diseno/|title=El programa SPAINSAT NG supera con éxito la revisión crítica de diseño|access-date=20 December 2021|date=20 December 2021|website=Avion Revue|language=es}}