Athena-Fidus will be a geostationary satellite based on the Spacebus 4000 B2 platform, operating in the Ka and EHF bands while employing DVB-RCS and DVB-S2 civil communications standards. The satellite will complement the capabilities already offered by the Syracuse and Sicral systems.
The satellite will be used by French and Italian defense forces, civil and homeland security agencies and police and fire departments after its launch by Arianespace in 2013.
“Our collaboration with Telespazio, via the Space Alliance, was a critical factor in our selection. We were able to combine the top skills in each country, in particular the industrial expertise of Thales Alenia Space and the service expertise of Telespazio,” Thales Alenia Space President and CEO Reynald Seznec said in a statement.
In a July interview with Via Satellite magazine, Seznec listed Athena-Fidus as one of the company’s crucial upcoming projects, "We have some key prospects in front of us. There are some high profile bids in place. Iridium is one. Meteosat, third generation, is another one. Galileo is another one. We have Sicral 2 in Italy and Athena Fidus, which are key prospects for us. In terms of challenges, maintaining and increasing the level of research and development spending is a challenge. Increasing investment at a time of crisis is necessary and will be useful after the crisis. It is essential for us to develop the technology. Innovation is another challenge for us. We want to fulfill the needs of the market at an affordable cost."
Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.
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