Airbus has signed contracts with the Ministries of Defence of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands to provide satellite communications for a 15-year period. The Armed Forces of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands will utilize 2 and 3 channels, respectively, of the Airbus UHF (Ultra High Frequency) military communications hosted payload onboard the EUTELSAT 36D telecommunications satellite scheduled for launch in 2024.

With this new UHF payload, Airbus will be able to offer a new UHF communications service to the armed forces, particularly those of European countries and NATO allies. As the UHF frequency band is a relatively scarce orbital resource, this offering will make up for the capacity shortage around the world. Airbus has already signed several firm orders for this capacity, well ahead of the satellite’s scheduled launch.