Airbus has been awarded the Skynet Design Support Contract (SDSC) to provide Design Authority reach back for the UK’s SKYNET 5 and 6A military satellite communications systems.

The contract will provide post-design services to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its future service providers to support the transition from SKYNET 5, which was procured under a PFI arrangement that commenced in 2003, towards a MOD-owned contractor-operated system under SKYNET 6.

This includes SKYNET 6A which Airbus is currently developing.