SmallGEO handed over to customer HISPASAT

“With the successful hand-over of the SmallGEO satellite H36W-1, OHB has achieved an important strategic goal which is of crucial importance for our company’s future development. At the same time, part of the national space strategy is being implemented with the return to system capability,” explained Marco Fuchs, the Chief Executive Officer of OHB System AG, at the hand-over of the satellite to HISPASAT. H36W-1 is the first satellite based on the SmallGEO platform developed by OHB. It was completed in the form of a private-public partnership comprising the European Space Agency (ESA), OHB and the HISPASAT. “I would like to thank the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the European Space Agency (ESA) as well as our customer HISPASAT for the good and collaborative joint activities. Whenever such a new product is developed, a high degree of reciprocal trust is required and this also applies to the teams. It is only with great personal dedication that we were jointly able to turn this vision into reality.” H36W-1 has already been integrated in the HISPASAT satellite fleet. From its geostationary position, which forms the basis of the satellite’s name, namely above 36 degrees longitude west, it will be providing Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and South America with flexible broadband services over a period of a good 15 years. OHB System AG acted as the industrial prime contractor for H36W-1, utilizing the expertise of three of its affiliates: OHB Sweden supplied subsystems for the electrical satellite propulsion system as well as the pitch and orbit control system. Luxspace provided the telemetrics and telecommand subsystems and was also involved in validating them at the satellite level. It also contributed to the development of the satellite simulator. OHB Italia supplied the payload control unit and was also involved in the development of the thermal control subsystem. German manufacturing input for H36W-1 was also high. OHB used the services of Tesat-Spacecom GmbH from Backnang as the principal contractor for the telecommunications payload, while Jena Optronik GmbH supplied the star sensors. Numerous other small and mid-size companies were also involved in the project.