Rulon Sasso, technician at Lockheed Martin, works in a production area that is processing the Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 and Arabsat 6A satellites. Photo: Lockheed Martin

[Via Satellite 06-02-2016] Lockheed Martin, Arabsat and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have successfully completed a comprehensive technical review of the commercial communications satellites Arabsat 6A and Hellas-Sat 4/SaudiGeoSat 1. To achieve this milestone, Lockheed Martin completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) of the satellites and each subsystem, demonstrating the satellites meet technical specifications and are ready for the next phase of production. With CDR complete and manufacturing underway, the Lockheed Martin team will now move further into the production process.

The two satellites will provide television, Internet, telephone and secure communications to customers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Arabsat 6A will be located at 30.5 degrees east and Hellas-Sat 4/SaudiGeoSat 1 will be located at 39 degrees east. Both spacecraft will be designed for a 15-year service life, and will be manufactured in Denver, Colorado.

Lockheed Martin is building the satellites based on the company’s modernized A2100 platform. The company has five modernized A2100 satellites currently under contract, which are designed for a host of missions and customers around the globe.