SpainSat NG II satellite – Spain has taken another step forward in strengthening its defense and secure communications capabilities with successful launching of the SpainSat NG II satellite, which took place on October 24. This is the second satellite from Hisdesat’s SpainSat NG program, which is being led by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space. The aim of this program is to ensure that during the coming decades, strategic communication services will be available to Spain’s armed forces, governmental agencies, and international allies.
The SpainSat NG II satellite completes launching of the constellation that began in January with SpainSat NG I, providing enhanced capacity, resilience, and flexibility thanks to the use of software-defined design. This architecture makes it possible to perform in‑orbit reconfiguration of the satellites’ performance, while ensuring secure communications over multiple bands (X, K1, and UHF). This is further solidifying Spain’s position as a leading player in the field of governmental satellite telecommunications.
During this highly complex technological program, GMV has been responsible for the ground segment, which is an essential part of operating the satellites. The company’s primary tasks have included development and deployment of the control systems for the satellite and its payload, optimization of payload allocation, monitoring of the satellite’s performance on the various operating bands, and configuration and control of the ground stations associated with the program. These operations will be managed from the main center in Hoyo de Manzanares near Madrid, and from the redundant center located at the Maspalomas Space Station in the Canary Islands, which is part of Spain’s National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). This will ensure maximum security and availability for the system.
GMV has also made a contribution to developing the software used to model the active reception and transmission antennas, and to developing the ground component for this satellite’s advanced geopositioning system.
The fact that this program involves software-defined satellites has presented an additional challenge, which has given GMV an opportunity to demonstrate its technological capabilities and expertise with integration. This has also given the company a key role within this program, which is strengthening Spain’s technological sovereignty and its position as a trusted partner for Europe and NATO.
For the Spanish space industry, the SpainSat program represents one of the largest investments in recent history. With a total combined budget of more than €1.4 billion, the program has received funding from Spain’s central government through the country’s Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, as well as from the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, and additional internal sources.
The system with both satellites will become operational during the first six months of 2026, and it is expected to provide services for at least 15 years, with the possibility of extension to 20 years. This will ensure stable, secure coverage until at least 2041, making Spain one of the small group of countries, together with the USA, France, the UK, and Italy, with the ability to operate and fully control satellite infrastructure dedicated exclusively to cyberdefense.
