Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded with a 145 M€ contract by the procurement agency of German Armed Forces (BAAINBw) for the long term operation of the SATCOMBw secure satellite communications system.

Airbus Defence and Space has been operating the SATCOMBw system since 2006. This contract which has been renewed for the next seven-and-a-half years includes the in-orbit operation of the military COMSATBw1 and COMSATBw 2 satellites as well as the operation of their teleport and associated networks in Weilheim, Germany, until 2022.

The two military communication satellites COMSATBw-1 and COMSATBw-2 provide German armed forces (Bundeswehr) in operation with military UHF and X-band plus additional capacity in C and Ku-band over a coverage stretching from the Americas to Eastern Asia. In addition to the two satellites, the SATCOMBw programme provides a secure ground communications network and control system. Command centres, vehicles, aircrafts and ships deployed around the world are linked directly into the base communications networks for voice, video, database access and IP (Internet Protocol) services.