The Skynet 5A military telecommunications satellite has been delivered to French Guiana in advance of its launch aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 in late February.

Skynet, scheduled to be launched along with India’s Insat 4B telecommunications satellite, is the first in a series of next-generation secure communications satellites for the British armed forces, NATO and a number of other countries.

The spacecraft will be operated for the U.K. Ministry of Defense by Paradigm Secure Communications, a commercial organization.