Today, the first of three new
British satellites destined to become the backbone for high-speed
communications for its military and its allies was launched. Skynet 5, which
was boosted into orbit by an Ariane 5-ECA rocket, will take roughly a week to
achieve its final geostationary orbit.
"We've already received telemetry from it. In fact, we
had a ground station see it just 10 minutes after separation. We've even sent
commands to Skynet. It's behaving itself perfectly," said Skynet lead
developer Patrick Wood. "Skynet's going to provide five times the capacity
that the previous system provided, and allow the military to do things they
just haven't been able to do in the past."
Skynet 5 replaces Skynet 4 and for military use and has
greatly improved bi-directional traffic rates. Skynet 5 not only features an
advanced antenna capable picking up signals while effectively resisting
attempts to jam it, but also has four steerable antennas giving operators the
ability to target bandwidth to where it is needed by force on the field.
The £2.6 billion ($5 billion USD) project was funded by a
Private Finance Initiative and is partnered by Paradigm Secure Communications
and EADS Astrium.
The Skynet 5 satellite launched today is designated as 5A.
Skynet 5B will launch in at the end of 2007 while Skynet 5C will launch
sometime in 2008.
