Alcatel Alenia Space said Nov. 16 it upheld its commitment to French procurement agency DGA to deliver the initial operational capacity of the Syracuse 3A military communications satellite just a month after the spacecraft was launched. The satellite, intended to provide communications for French military personnel, was delivered to orbit via an Arianespace Ariane 5G launch vehicle Oct. 13.

In-orbit testing, carried out by the France Sud military ground station at Bram, France, began Oct. 22. Ongoing system validation tests will feed into the system qualification review scheduled for Dec. 13.

Since Nov. 10, DGA has had access to two SHF channels, using the active antenna for global and regional coverage, while transmission is handled by a global horn and a regional passive antenna.