Terma powers SmallGeo satellite platform

Copenhagen, Denmark – The launch of the first SmallGeo satellite is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 28 January 2017, from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana. On board is a Power Distribution Unit designed and developed by Terma.

The first application of the SGEO platform is for Hispasat's Advanced Generation 1-telecommunications satellite (Hispasat AG1 36W-1) to be placed in a geostationary orbit at 36,000 km above the earth. It will supply a number of countries including Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands, and South America with improved multimedia connections.

Europe's new versatile small geostationary platform will be launched on its maiden flight in the early hours of 28 January on a Soyuz rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for 01:03 GMT on 28 January (02:03 CET, 22:03 on 27 January local time).

Based on massive experience from numerous European scientific and geo stationary satellite missions including the design of the power units for the Galileo program, Mars Express, Rosetta, Venus Express, and others, Terma was contracted by prime contractor OHB System AG in Bremen, Germany to design and supply the Power Distribution Unit for the first SmallGeo (SGEO) satellite now ready for launch.

The development of the SGEO platform is an opportunity for the European space industry to play a key role in the commercial telecommunications market. The platform is developed within the framework of a public-private partnership with OHB as "prime" and financed by ESA and the Spanish telecommunications provider Hispasat.

“Terma expects the SmallGeo platform to develop positively in the market, and we see it as part of the development of other OHB headed platforms, where especially "Electra" and "Heinrich Hertz" look promising”, says Carsten Jørgensen, Senior Vice President, Terma Space.