Artist’s rendition of the new Eutelsat Quantum class satellite. Credit: Airbus Defence and Space

[Via Satellite 07-09-2015] Airbus Defence and Space has signed the first contract for the Eutelsat Quantum satellite with Eutelsat and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Quantum satellite will be able to adapt to new demands in coverage, bandwidth, power, frequency configurability, and change its orbital position.

Airbus Defence and Space will build the satellite in the U.K. with a new small satellite platform from SSTL called the Geostationary Minisatellite Platform (GMPT). Quantum builds on the payload technology developed by Airbus Defence and Space in the U.K. with U.K. Space Agency support under the ESA Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems program (ARTES 33.3). Featuring phased array antennas and flexible connectivity, which is fully reconfigurable in orbit, Quantum will be able to adjust its coverage and capacity to suit customers’ needs as and when they change.

The new design features software-defined “receive” and “transmit” coverage in Ku band, including on-board jamming detection and mitigation. It allows customers to maintain access to premium capacity throughout the 15-year lifetime of the satellite by allowing footprint shaping and steering, frequency adjustment and bandwidth reassignment.