<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish satellite SpainSat NG I has successfully taken off from Cape Canaveral (Florida), on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, the company of the magnate Elon Musk.</strong></h4> According to the Ministry of Defense on Thursday, the launch took place at 20:34 on Wednesday (local time, 02:34 on Thursday in Spain). Once in space, the SpainSat NG I will take another five months to reach its place in the geostationary orbit, located 36,000 kilometers from Earth, and be fully operational to provide secure communications services to the Armed Forces. The launch of this first satellite was attended by the Secretary of State for Defense, Amparo Valcarce, and other authorities of the Ministry. “With its launch, the Spanish space industry achieves the greatest milestone in its history,” said the Ministry. The SpainSat NG I satellite, with a wingspan of 6.1 tons and a height of 7.2 meters, is the most technologically advanced and among the most innovative in the world. The United States has ten satellites of this type. SpainSat NG I and its twin, SpainSat NG II, whose launch is scheduled for the end of the year, will be able to provide, during their 15-year useful life, secure communications with maximum protection against interference or other threats, including a high-altitude nuclear event, to two thirds of the Earth's surface. When the two satellites are fully operational by February 2026, according to the company's forecasts, they will have successfully replaced the current SpainSat and XTAR-EUR. Hisdesat is the operator responsible for a cutting-edge program that has had the Ministry of Defense, through its General Directorate of Armament and Material, as the main contractor, and that has had the largest participation of Spanish companies (45%), practically the entire national space sector. Hisdesat sources contacted by the Efe agency indicated that it was decided to use Elon Musk's company for this launch due to its greater reliability and because it offered greater guarantees of success in its launches. The contract with SpaceX was formalized in September 2022. The possibility of using the Ariane 6, the European Space Agency (ESA) rocket, had also been considered, but Arianespace did not even formalize an offer, according to the aforementioned sources. In addition to the Spanish Government and its Armed Forces, the new satellite will provide service to international organizations such as the European Commission and NATO, as well as other governments of allied countries. From different geostationary positions, the two new-generation satellites that will operate in X, military Ka and UHF bands, will have coverage in an extensive global area that spans from the United States and South America, to the Middle East, including Africa and Europe and reaching the Asian continent.
