MADRID, Spain — Spanish satellite operator Hisdesat has selected Airbus Defence and Space as the prime contractor for the development and construction of the SpainSat NG-III secure communications satellite, completing the industrial framework of the SPAINSAT NG Programme, a public-private partnership with the Spanish Ministry of Defence.
The agreement, signed on July 31, will see Airbus design, integrate, and test the satellite, while Thales Alenia Space will serve as co-contractor. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Supporting Spain's Secure Communications Network
SpainSat NG-III will become part of Europe's most advanced secure military satellite communications constellation. The satellite is designed to provide high-capacity, encrypted command-and-control communications for the Spanish Armed Forces, government users, NATO, allied forces, and users under the European GOVSATCOM initiative.
According to Airbus, the new satellite builds on the design of earlier SpainSat NG spacecraft while introducing improvements that increase operational flexibility, expand available bandwidth, and strengthen protection against jamming and other electronic threats.
Advanced Payload and Protection
Built on Airbus' Eurostar Neo platform, SpainSat NG-III will carry advanced X-band receive and transmit active antennas developed by Airbus in Spain. The company said these antennas deliver the performance of 16 conventional antennas and can reconfigure coverage up to 1,000 times per second, enabling rapid detection and mitigation of electronic interference, including jamming and spoofing attempts.
Thales Alenia Space in Spain will develop the satellite's UHF and military Ka-band payloads while leading the assembly, integration, and testing of the communications module at its Tres Cantos facility.
The satellite also incorporates hardened features designed to withstand high-altitude nuclear events and electromagnetic pulses (EMP). Airbus said it meets NATO requirements for signal intelligence, anti-jamming, and anti-spoofing capabilities.
Launch Planned for 2030
SpainSat NG-III will follow a 48-month development schedule, with launch planned for the third quarter of 2030 and full operational capability expected in early 2031.
Once operational alongside SpainSat NG-I, which launched in January 2025, the constellation will provide continuous geostationary communications coverage from North and South America across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and eastward to Singapore, covering roughly two-thirds of the Earth's surface.
Replacing SpainSat NG-II
The new satellite is being developed after SpainSat NG-II, launched in October 2025, suffered non-recoverable damage following what its operator described as a space particle impact while transferring to its final geostationary orbit in January 2026. SpainSat NG-III will restore the lost capability and complete the planned constellation.
The programme remains one of the largest space hardware initiatives undertaken by Spain's aerospace sector and continues to involve Airbus, Thales Alenia Space, and more than ten Spanish aerospace companies supplying subsystems and hardware.
Alain Fauré, Head of Space Systems at Airbus Defence and Space, said SpainSat NG-III will reinforce Spanish and European strategic autonomy by providing mission-critical communications for Spain, NATO, and allied forces.
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