Skynet 1 There were two Skynet 1 satellites (1A and 1B);
Skynet 1A was launched on a
Delta M on 22 November 1969, However, the satellite ceased operating after about 18 months when all of its
Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTAs) failed, probably when soldered high voltage joints failed after cycling between extreme temperatures. Skynet 1 series satellites had an orbit mass of , were
spin-stabilised with a single despun antenna with 3
watts of output on two channels (2
MHz and 20 MHz).
Skynet 2 Following the operational failure of the Skynet 1A satellite, the timetable for the launch of the Skynet 2 communications satellite was delayed.
Skynet 2A was launched on the
Delta 2313 by
NASA for the United Kingdom on 19 January 1974. A short circuit in an electronics package circuit board (on second stage) left the upper stages and satellite in an unstable low orbit (96 x 3406 km x 37.6°) that rapidly decayed. An investigation revealed that a substandard coating had been used on the circuit board. Despite being in an unstable orbit, the ground stations successfully located and tracked Skynet 2A and were able to use telemetry readings from the
solar panels to determine its alignment. Based on this analysis, it was decided to use the alignment thrusters to deorbit the unit, and it was destroyed when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 24 January 1974.
Skynet 2B was successfully launched on the
Delta 2313 by NASA for the United Kingdom on 23 November 1974. It was positioned in
geostationary orbit above
Kenya to give coverage of Europe,
Africa and a substantial part of
Asia as far east at the
Philippines. It could support about ten simultaneous users. Major ground stations used a 40-foot diameter
dish, while in the field or at sea a 2 m diameter dish was used. Skynet 2 satellites had an orbit mass of , with a single antenna with 16 watts of output. communication satellites built outside the United States and
USSR. The
Signals Research and Development Establishment (SRE) led the development, and performed initial in-orbit testing. Subsequently, the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment supported Skynet satellites, including developing ground terminals and modems, at
RAF Defford which was also a backup for the primary ground station at
RAF Oakhanger.
Skynet 3 Skynet 3 series satellites was cancelled as the United Kingdom withdrew
East of Suez, and instead the capability it was intended to offer was delivered via U.S. and
NATO assets. The
Royal Navy was also concerned that the high frequency radio alternative enabled location tracking by the Soviet Union Ocean Surveillance System.
Skynet 4 ground terminal to Skynet in 2000 Skynet 4 series satellites have few similarities to the earlier generations, being based on the
British Aerospace European Communications Satellite. As of 2022, Skynet 4C is still in operation, providing service to the U.S.
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station for up to six hours a day because its
orbital inclination has increased to 10.3°. The Stage 1 satellites (4A, 4B and 4C) have multi-frequency capability and considerable operational flexibility, with selectable channels, gain and four antenna types of differing widths to support varying requirements,
Ultra high frequency (UHF),
Super high frequency (SHF) and experimental
Extremely high frequency (EHF) channels are available. They are hardening against
electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and have anti-jamming capability, with an un-degraded 1600 watts
power supply. The satellites have a dry mass of , with three
reaction wheels and
hydrazine thrusters for station keeping. The improved Stage 2 satellites (4D, 4E and 4F) were built by
Matra Marconi Space and
Astrium to replace the earlier versions. Improvements included increased power and resistance to electronic jamming.
Skynet 4D was launched in 1998,
Skynet 4E in 1999 and
Skynet 4F in 2001. Skynet 4D was parked in a non-operational
supersynchronous orbit on 28 January 2008.
Skynet 5 Skynet 5 is the next generation of satellites, replacing the existing Skynet 4 Stage 2 satellites. It was contracted via
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to a partnership between
Paradigm Secure Communications and
EADS Astrium, a European spacecraft manufacturer. EADS Astrium was responsible for the build and delivery of Skynet 5 series satellites in orbit, whilst subsidiary company Paradigm was responsible for the provision of service to the
Ministry of Defence (MOD). In 2010, the PFI contract was extended by two years to 2022, to a total cost of £3.66 billion over the course of the contract, with Paradigm able to sell bandwidth in excess of the capacity of 1.1 Skynet satellites to other allied countries. Paradigm had 220 staff and about 100 sub-contractors working on Skynet.
Serco was a major subcontractor on the PFI programme. This was the biggest ever outsourced military satellite communications contract. The Skynet 5 satellite is based on the
Eurostar E3000 satellite bus design, weighs about , has two solar panels each about fifteen metres long, and has a power budget of five kilowatts. It has four steerable transmission dishes, and a phased-array receiver designed to allow
jamming signals to be cancelled out. They will also resist attempts to disrupt them with high-powered lasers. Skynet 5 introduced full
Internet Protocol (IP) support, increasing capability and usability. The launch was delayed from 10 March 2007 due to malfunction of a launch pad deluge system. Skynet 5A successfully separated from its launch vehicle and telemetry was acquired by its dedicated Control Centre approximately 40 minutes after launch.
Skynet 5B was launched at 22:06 UTC on 14 November 2007, from
Centre Spatial Guyanais,
Kourou, in
French Guiana, aboard an
Ariane 5ECA launch vehicle. This launch was delayed from 9 November 2007 due to problems with the electronics on one of the
Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB), and 12 November 2007 due to a fuelling problem with the launch pad. At time of launch, the Ariane 5ECA launcher set a new record on this mission, deploying a total payload of more than .
Skynet 5C was launched at 22:05:09 UTC on 12 June 2008, from Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, in French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5ECA launch vehicle. The Ministry of Defence described the satellite as having a "key role in gathering intelligence on operations", as well as communications. Initially two Skynet 5 satellites were to be built, with insurance covering any launch loss; the MOD later decided to have a third satellite built in advance, and later still to have the third satellite launched to serve as an on-orbit spare, as well as an option to a fourth satellite, as a cheaper alternative to insurance. In 2011, The MOD took ownership of a NATO satellite with two UHF channels, to support the additional demands from
British involvement in the
War in Afghanistan. Control of this satellite was incorporated into the Skynet 5 PFI contract. The satellites are managed from a site named Hawthorn, a few hundred metres north of
MOD Corsham, in partnership with MOD's
Defence Digital (previously
Information Systems & Services) who are based at MOD Corsham.
Expansion to near global coverage In 2010, Paradigm announced it would lease the
X-band (SHF) module on the
Anik G1 commercial satellite at 107.3° West over the
Pacific Ocean, covering the
Americas and as far west as
Hawaii, to complement Skynet system coverage. The three-channel, wide-beam X-band payload has performance similar to a Skynet 5 satellite, but without the military hardening. Anik G1 launched on 16 April 2013, improving the constellation's X-band capacity to 2.2
GHz of throughput. In 2016, a new Australian ground station was opened at
Mawson Lakes,
Adelaide, managed by Airbus in partnership with
SpeedCast, an Australian provider for over 25 years which works with the Australian military at that base. This complements Airbus's existing chain of ground stations in France, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States. The British High Commissioner
Menna Rawlings said at the opening ceremony "Territorial disputes over uninhabited rocks and reefs have the potential to generate enough friction in international affairs to spark a confrontation", alluding to the
territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Airbus Defence and Space signed a further three partners,
Hughes Network Systems,
Inmarsat and
SpeedCast, into its Skynet partner programme who offer third-party Skynet services. The Skynet contract also allow Airbus to sell surplus bandwidth to
NATO and allied governments, including the
Five Eyes intelligence alliance (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States).
Technical specifications The fleet of military X-band satellites have been specifically designed to support smaller, low powered, tactical terminals. Each Skynet 5 satellite is equipped with: • High power 160W
TWTAs on all
transponders, giving 56 dBW peak
EIRP in each transmit spot beam and 41
dBW peak EIRP in each global beam per transponder • 15 active
SHF /
EHF transponders ranging in bandwidth from 20 GHz to 40 GHz • Up to 9
UHF channels • Multiple fully steerable downlink spot beams • On Board Active Receive Antenna (OBARA) capable of generating multiple shaped uplink beams • Flexible switching capability allowing connectivity between any uplink beam and at least two downlink beams • Nuclear hardening, anti-jamming countermeasures and laser protection
Skynet 6 Skynet 6A transition satellite In 2018, the MOD was specifying the replacement of Skynet 5, whose PFI programme ended in August 2022. Airbus Defence and Space will build a non-competitively sourced
Skynet 6A satellite planned for a 2025 launch, as a transition to a new architecture. As of 2017, the PFI project was viewed as unlikely to be extended, as PFI contracting was then seen as generally poor value for taxpayers, and it had depleted MOD of satellite expertise which made specifying its replacement difficult. Skynet 6A is based on the Airbus
Eurostar Neo satellite bus, using electric orbit raising and station keeping propulsion, and built at Airbus
Stevenage and
Portsmouth, England. It uses more radio frequencies for communication, and will have more capacity and versatility than Skynet 5 satellites. Due to the delay in agreeing the Skynet 6A contract, preliminary contracts for initial design and to manufacture long lead items had been agreed earlier to prevent end-date slippage. In 2021, a one-year transition was expected to start from the Airbus PFI contract to the new Service Delivery Wrap contract which will operate ground stations until a new generation of satellites under an Enduring Capability contract are launched from about 2028. This transition is expected to cost about £6 billion. In February 2023,
Babcock International won the Service Delivery Wrap support contract to operate and manage Skynet, including the ground infrastructure and integrating new user terminals, for six years from March 2024 at a cost of £400 million. In 2024, Airbus was given an 18-year contract for the design, manufacture and support of capability enhanced ground modems for communication with Skynet including the forthcoming Skynet 6A satellite. It will be a
software-defined radio system capable of processing multiple waveforms on all commonly-used frequencies, including X-band.
Skynet 6 future vision The vision for Skynet 6 is a flexible system architecture that combines UK government, allied and commercial satellites. The MOD has become a user of U.S. military constellations
Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) and the
Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) systems, and may become a partner in the
Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). Part of the enhanced capability would be to support data links to
unmanned aerial vehicles and
F-35B Lightning II aircraft. As of 2019, Skynet is the large part of the MOD Future Beyond Line of Sight Satellite Communications programme (FBLOS), which extends to 2041, and has four elements: • Skynet 6A, a single transition satellite • Service Delivery Wrap, a support contract to manage and control the Skynet constellation and ground infrastructure • Skynet 6 Enduring Capability, to provide and operate communication satellites and ground infrastructure into the future • Secure Telemetry, Tracking and Command (STT&C), to provide assured UK control and management of satellites and their payloads into the future On 3 July 2020, the UK Government announced that it had acquired a 45% stake in the
OneWeb low Earth orbit satellite communications company, for US$500 million including a golden share to give it control over any future ownership sale. Analysts believe OneWeb will be incorporated into the Skynet 6 architecture. OneWeb satellites are already manufactured by a joint venture including Airbus Defence and Space, which positions the current Skynet operator well for future involvement in Skynet 6. During 2023 contractors were preparing to bid on the SkyNet Enduring Capability programme, which is split into two contracts: the major one to deliver a constellation of up to three geostationary wideband satellite systems for launch from 2028 to 2030, and a smaller contract for a narrowband service for tactical battlefield access. In 2025,
Amazon subsidiary
Kuiper Systems was given a contract to study an advanced communications architecture using "translator" satellites to bridge between military, government and private satellites. U.S.
DARPA has been working on a similar architecture. As of May 2025, non-MOD-owned satellite capacity is being sought to augment Skynet. As of late 2025, the exact form of the new Skynet 6 architecture is still under discussion. In January 2026, the
Financial Times reported that Airbus and
Lockheed Martin were the lead prospective contractors for the full Skynet 6 programme, but there was concern in government over the wisdom of selecting U.S. headquartered Lockheed Martin as the U.S. government was becoming unpredictable under
President Trump, especially the
threats to annex Greenland. == Information assurance ==