Artistic rendering of the configuration of the Ariane 6 using four boosters. Photo Credit: ESA

French space agency CNES has chosen the Space Alliance, formed by Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space, to extend the fiber-optic communications system (STFO) at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, to include the new launch complex under construction for Ariane 6 (ELA4). CNES is in charge of the CSG ground segment. The extended system will be ready to meet the needs of Ariane 6 customers by the end of 2019.

The STFO communications system acts as an interface between launch customers’ test benches and satellites throughout the different launch preparation phases at CSG, including spacecraft fueling, satellite encapsulation under the launch vehicle fairing and launch pad operations. In operation since the 1990s, this system will now be extended and upgraded to serve Ariane 6 customers. The new system is specially designed to meet the needs of the Very High-Throughput Satellite (VHTS) market, since it extends Radio-Frequency (RF) services to 40 GHz and allows the simultaneous operation of two satellites in Ka band.

Telespazio France, as prime contractor, and Thales Alenia Space in Spain, as subcontractor, will bring to the project their complementary skills in system engineering, communications networks, software systems, RF and fiber optics, as well as in the operation and maintenance of the current STFO system.