SpainSat NG-II satellite communications in the packing stage, 11 September 2025. Credit: Airbus.
The second SpainSat NG-II satellite was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral on 23 October 2025.
Airbus and Thales Alenia Space developed the satellite communications (SATCOM) constellation, including the first satellite, which launched into orbit at the end of January 2025.
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These satellites operate from geostationary orbit in X, military Ka and UHF frequency bands, used for high throughput secure communications, enabling to provide dual, secure and resilient services for the Spanish military, international organisations such as the European Commission through the government SATCOM programme, as well as Nato from the spring of 2026.
From development to orbit
While Airbus constructed both spacecraft, based on its Eurostar Neo platform, a civilian-use SATCOM capability, Thales Alenia Space (a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo) integrated the communications module.
The latter occurred in the company’s clean room in Tres Cantos, Madrid, which was inaugurated in 2021. For the first time in Spain, these facilities have enabled the integration of a module weighing more than two tonnes and measuring six metres in height.
Following the completion of final integration, testing, and validation at Airbus facilities in Toulouse, the satellite was shipped to Florida in September, where it was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellite has an approximate length of seven metres and weighs around six tonnes.
Operational use in orbit: Spain and allies
Hisdesat, a Spanish government-owned satellite services company, will operate the constellation on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
The SpainSat NG-II spacecraft carries an X-band active receive and transmit antenna system, providing the equivalent functionality of 16 traditional antennas. This guarantees reliable communications for military and government missions and can adapt and change its coverage up to 1,000 times per second.
Additionally, the active antennas system can eliminate and geolocate jamming attempts with high accuracy. Moreover, the satellite is radiation hardened to protect against a potential nuclear blast in space – a potential threat the Kremlin have suggested using against other spacefarers.
It is these developments on previous satellites that together constitute claim “the most advanced government communications system in Europe,” according to a release from Airbus.
Europe’s space industry come together
The second SpainSat launch comes a day after Airbus, Leonardo and Thales each agreed to form a joint venture company to increase the competitiveness of the European space industry. This new company could be operational in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other closing conditions.
European Space Agency rocket vehicle displayed alongside the Space Hub during the Paris Air Show 2025. Credit: John Hill/Airforce Technology.
By joing forces, the trio will pool their resources to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in space, a major sector that underpins critical infrastructure and services related to telecommunications, global navigation, earth observation, science, exploration and national security.
This follows the European Union’s (EU) efforts to increase their defence industrial strength in an inaugural strategy published in April 2024. One of their objectives is to ensure that, by 2030, the value of intra-EU defence trade represents at least 35% of the value of the EU defence market.
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