Skynet 6A
To Be DeterminedLaunch Details
Date: 31 Dec 2027, 12:00 am UTC
Rocket: Falcon 9 (Falcon)
Provider: SpaceX
Mission
Type: Communications
Orbit: Geostationary Transfer Orbit
Pad: Unknown Pad, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Mission Description
The Skynet 6A gap-filler military communications satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space to cover the gap between the Britisch Skynet-5 network and its successor. Skynet 6A was solesourced from Airbus Defence and Space in 2017, but was not fully funded until July 2020. Aibus will build the Skynet-6A satellite in the United Kingdom and arrange a 2025 launch. RAL Space, a U.K. national laboratory, will test the all-electric satellite at its facility in Harwell. Skynet-6A, based on the Eurostar-Neo platform, is expected to provide communications services for the British military until at least 2040.