Final Design Review for Airbus OneSat Successfully Completed
Airbus has passed an important milestone for the OneSat flexible satellite product line, with the Final Design Review successfully achieved with customers and space agencies.
“I am proud that ESA is associated, through the OneSat Partnership Project, with the development of this innovative software defined satellite product line. Such partnership projects allow Industry to engage in ambitious and challenging endeavours to accompany the transformation of the satcom market."
Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA.
The fully reconfigurable OneSat product line features major innovations and disruptive technologies including the latest digital processing and active antennas enabling several thousand beams. In addition, to meet the demanding schedule for OneSat development, Airbus is applying agile new ways of working with its industrial partners, customers and space agencies.
Final design review is a formal technical review of prototype detailed design approach for a
configuration item (CI) or computer software configuration item (CSCI), including evaluation of progress, technical adequacy, and risk resolution on a technical, cost, and schedule basis.
"The worldwide commercial success of Airbus’ telecom satellite products OneSat and Eurostar Neo, proves our investment strategy focusing on new technology and innovation is spot on," said François Gaullier, Head of Airbus Telecom Systems. "This was largely made possible thanks to key support from space agencies, which further reinforces European industrial competitiveness and jobs, preserving Europe’s sovereignty in space. These investments gave us the impetus to innovate and offer pioneering technological and industrial solutions to our customers. Thanks to our intuitive reading of the market, the right technological choices and a disruptive supply chain approach, we see Eurostar Neo and OneSat as key pillars in the current and future geostationary telecoms market.”
“I am proud that ESA is associated, through the OneSat Partnership Project, with the development of this innovative software defined satellite product line," said Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA. "Such partnership projects allow Industry to engage in ambitious and challenging endeavours to accompany the transformation of the satcom market, to strengthen European leadership, and ultimately to ensure our citizens are better connected.”
Airbus is currently manufacturing seven OneSats for its customers as well as eight state-of-the-art Eurostar Neo telecommunications satellites. Development of both programs is supported by ESA, as well as the French Space Agency (CNES), and the UK Space Agency. Inmarsat was the first customer to select the OneSat solution, signing a contract for production of this global communications operator’s next-generation Ka-band satellites – Inmarsat GX7, GX8 & GX9 – in 2019. Featuring on-board processing and active antennas, the three Ka-band spacecraft will be able to adjust their coverage, capacity and frequency.
(Image provided with Airbus news release)