Sicral 1b Launch Deferred Again
Feb 19, 2009
By Andy Nativi and Michael A. Taverna
Sea Launch has postponed the launch of Italy's Sicral 1b military communications satellite until further notice because of unspecified payload issues.
Launch of the spacecraft, built by Thales Alenia Space, has already been pushed back several times for various reasons, and was most recently scheduled for late January/early February. Industry sources say an April liftoff is now likely.
In addition to supplying Italian forces with secure SHF, UHF and EHF bandwidth, Sicral 1b is intended to provide hardened capacity to meet the country's commitment to NATO, which it is fulfilling in partnership with the U.K. and Italy. An initial satellite, orbited in 2001, cannot meet that requirement.
Sicral 1b construction and launch were partially financed by Thales Alenia sister company Telespazio, in return for the right to market capacity to third party countries.
This makes Italy the third country in Europe, after the U.K. and Spain, to fund a milsatcom venture using a private financing initiative (PFI) approach.
A follow-on spacecraft, Sicral 2, is already planned to complement the first-generation spacecraft and meet French needs for capacity to supplement its two Syracuse III satellites. Thales Alenia Space President/CEO Raynald Selznec says this spacecraft may also be partially financed through a PFI arrangement. Selznec says a firm and final offer for Sicral 2, which is not subject to a competitive tender, has yet to be submitted. A final agreement could be announced at an upcoming Franco-Italian summit on Feb. 27, permitting a contract to be concluded several months later, he indicates.
A second Franco-Italian milsatcom venture, Athena-Fidus, also is close to finalization. This spacecraft, intended for welfare and other low-security-level military and security applications, is being competed. Selznec says Thales Alenia's proposal has been submitted and a selection is expected by midyear, with a contract to follow at the end of the third quarter. Launch of Sicral 2 and Athena-Fidus is anticipated in 2012-13.
Sicral 1b photo: Finmeccanica
