Airbus Defence and Space has signed GigaSat to its channel partner programme for Skynet services. GigaSat will be offering Skynet services as part of their mobile and fly-away communications portfolio, to Indonesian Defence Forces operating within the Asia Pacific Region.

Airbus Defence and Space is working with service providers to develop new partnerships to deliver highly resilient Skynet military satellite communication services to Asia Pacific region, following the move of its Skynet 5A satellite from 6 East to 95 East to provide global X-band and UHF coverage in this region.

Steve Mills, Head of Global Sales and Marketing for Skynet 5 at Airbus Defence and Space, said: "We have worked with GigaSat already for a number of years working with their extensive satellite terminal portfolio.

"This new partnership will enable GigaSat to offer Skynet services to their already strong terminal customer base; the services will primarily be using the newly relocated Skynet 5A satellite and enable users to operate in both the US and Asia regions."

Tom Cross, Business Unit Director for Ultra Electronics, GigaSat commented: "GigaSat has a long history of providing integrated hardware solutions to our global satcom customers. This partnership with Airbus will for the first time allow us to also provide X-band and UHF Skynet services, and we are particularly excited about bringing this capability to the Indonesian market, where we have enjoyed strong customer relationships for many years."

Airbus Defence and Space completed the move of the Skynet 5A to 95 East over the Asia Pacific region in September 2015. The relocation was initiated to extend the Skynet constellation's coverage and services from 178 West to 163 East, including the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific region.

The Skynet network now offers global military coverage, expanding core service reach for the UK military and augmenting coalition capabilities in the region.

Airbus Defence and Space owns and operates the hardened Skynet X-band satellite constellation of eight satellites and the ground network to provide all Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The contract also allows other NATO and allied governments such as members of the five-eyes community (besides UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) to use the Skynet system to augment their existing services.