The German Army has awarded Airbus a contract worth €2.1 billion for the next generation of SatcomBw 3 military communications satellites, the European aerospace company reported on Thursday.
The agreement means that Airbus will manage geostationary satellitesland infrastructure and releases over the next 15 years.
Geostationary satellites are spacecraft that They orbit the Earth at the same speed as it rotates, meaning they remain in the same relative position. The deployment of these ships is scheduled for before the end of the decade.
“At a time when Western democracies are facing challenges and in which the space ecosystem European institutional system is struggling, we are excited and grateful to develop and build this cutting-edge system,” said Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space.
“Las associations in the long term they are crucial to ensure essential sovereignty and capability, and protect our armed forces in an increasingly unstable geopolitical environment,” he added. The new contract reinforces the existing relationship between Airbus and the German Army, as both parties maintain a similar satellite contract since 2009.
The next generation of Airbus satellites is based on the Eurostar Neo platform and will weigh six metric tons. According to the company, they will have “extensive capabilities to keep pace with rapid changes in the digitization” and the “necessary data transfer volume”.
In April, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner predicted that the country could see increased its defense spending by 9,000 million euros from 2028, provided that Germany can reduce its debt burden.
“That will help us achieve the jump to the goal of I’LL TAKE in the federal budget after the end of the special program for the Bundeswehr [Ejército]”Lindner stated.
According to NATO principles, members should aim to spend at least 2% of its Gross Domestic Product in Defense. Twenty-three Allies are expected to meet or exceed this target by 2024, compared to just three Allies in 2014. In February this year, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated, however, that the 2% target “can only be the point”.
Las geopolitical tensionsin particular the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, have brought security concerns and therefore defense spending to the forefront of European priorities.
