Hispasat and Astrium present the first active Ku-band antenna in Europe

This innovative antenna will allow the Hispasat AG1 satellite to change coverage in orbit to more efficiently adapt to customer needs.

Hispasat has presented this Thursday together with Astrium Spain (EADS CASA Espacio), the DRA-ELSA reconfigurable antenna, the largest and most complex that has been developed to date in Europe.

This antenna will be installed on the Hispasat AG1 satellite, and will have four simultaneous beams in Ku band with the highest performance, allowing the operator to optimize the service in the dynamic context of the current communications market. The Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), which co-finances the AG1 project, also participated in the presentation event.

The main advantage of this new antenna is that it allows the operator to adapt to changes that may occur in the mission after the launch of the satellite, such as the incorporation of new clients, a change in orbital position,... In this way, Hispasat will have maximum operational flexibility and will be able to adapt its services to a multitude of new and different scenarios.

The Hispasat AG1 satellite will have, thanks to this advanced and flexible antenna, four beams that can be pointed at any position on Earth, allowing both the pointing and its coverage to be modified throughout the useful life of the satellite. This offers Hispasat the ability to optimally adapt to the needs of each client at all times, configuring the DRA-ELSA antenna from the control earth station, for which an antenna regulation method has also been developed that provides full operability to the system. In addition, this antenna has been manufactured to improve isolation from other communication systems or from possible interference.

The Hispasat AG1 satellite is the first mission of the Small GEO platform, developed by OHB Systems (Germany) together with the European Space Agency and Hispasat. It incorporates the innovative REDSAT regenerative payload (which includes the DRA-ELSA project), which will allow Hispasat to use the satellite's power more quickly and efficiently, substantially increasing the transmission capacity with the consequent reduction in the cost of communications. The Hispasat AG1, which will be launched in 2015, will have a launch mass of 3.2 tons and will carry up to 20 transponders in Ku band and up to 3 in Ka band, in addition to this novel active antenna with reconfigurable beams. DRA-ELSA thus becomes the first active antenna manufactured in Europe that operates in the commercial market in the Ku band.