Airbus selected to deliver two radar satellites for Spain's PAZ-2 programme

An illustrative image of two radar satellites as part of Spain's Ministry of Defence PAZ-2 programme. (Airbus)

Airbus Defence and Space has been selected as the prime contractor for the development and manufacture of two radar satellites as part of the PAZ-2 programme led by Spanish satellite communications provider Hisdesat for the Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD).

A contract was signed by Airbus on 9 July which will see the company develop and manufacture 65% of the two satellites. The satellites will be designed, assembled, and tested at the Airbus facilities in Getafe, Spain. The first satellite is expected to enter into service by mid-2031.

They will operate in the X-band for data acquisition and in the X-band and K-band for data download. Target detection and identification are included in the deal and “both satellites can provide the capability on a post-processed basis”, an Airbus representative told Janes on 11 July. The representative added that a company is yet to be assigned to provide the necessary ground-level data processing, including the classification of targets.

The Spanish MoD's PAZ-2 programme is a continuation of its current Earth observation satellite PAZ, which has been in service since 2018. The PAZ-2 satellites will have an improved image quality compared with PAZ, with Airbus adding, “the resolution will be better than 25 cm”. The satellites will increase coverage to 6.7 million km² per day, with each satellite orbiting the Earth 16 times daily. The radar satellites can capture radar images 24 hours a day, regardless of weather conditions.