Portsmouth, 9 March 2010 – Paradigm, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astrium Services, has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to extend and enhance the Skynet 5 private finance initiative (PFI) programme. This will involve the manufacture, launch, test and operation of a fourth satellite, Skynet 5D, and the extension of the Skynet 5 contract by two years until 2022.
The contract extension will guarantee UK MoD additional capacity on the Skynet 5 constellation.
Eric Béranger, CEO of Astrium Services said:
“The Skynet 5 programme was a pioneering step in the provision of milsatcoms via a commercial operator. In the past six years we have not only met the exacting requirements of UK MoD, but have also provided a comprehensive and flexible service to allied nations worldwide.
“The demand for a fourth Skynet 5 satellite demonstrates the growing global demand for the services we can offer and proves that we have successfully implemented a truly innovative approach to milsatcom procurement.”
For further information, see EADS Astrium website