SATCOMBw: Now Airbus also wants a consortium with Rheinmetall and OHB
Previously, OHB and Rheinmetall already wanted to cooperate, now Airbus also wants to join. The project is then to be completed faster, but could cost more.
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Surprising turn of events in the Bundeswehr's largest satellite project: Instead of submitting separate bids, Airbus, OHB, and Rheinmetall are reportedly planning to jointly bid as contractors for the Bundeswehr's satellite communication project (SATCOMBw) Stage 4.
The armaments group Rheinmetall and the satellite manufacturer OHB had previously intended to jointly assert themselves against aircraft manufacturer Airbus in the race for the project award before. According to information from the news magazine Spiegel, the Bundeswehr's procurement office had asked all three companies to submit individual bids for the upcoming SATCOMBw project. Surprisingly, the authority has now received feedback that Airbus has reached an agreement with OHB and Rheinmetall to tackle the project together.
According to Spiegel, the three companies see the cooperation as absolutely necessary to implement the ambitious project – it is the largest space contract in German history, and it needs to happen quickly, Spiegel has learned from circles close to the consortium.
OHB and Airbus have extensive expertise in the satellite sector, while Rheinmetall supplies many of the Bundeswehr's weapon systems. This is a crucial advantage for networking tanks, fighter jets, and ships with the satellite network.
A consortium of three could also cost more
The estimated contract value is between eight and ten billion euros and is part of a 35 billion euro budget that Germany intends to allocate for investments in military space technologies by the end of the decade.
While awarding the contract to the consortium of three could save the procurement office legal disputes, for example, if one of the companies had sued against the award to a competitor. On the other hand, it could now become a direct award without a regular tender with competition, which could ultimately lead to higher prices.
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The SATCOMBw Stage 4 satellite constellation is scheduled to be operational by 2029. Unlike the Stage 3 system, SATCOMBw Stage 4 no longer relies on a few geostationary satellites in orbits around 36,000 kilometers high. Although geostationary satellites provide broad signal coverage, high signal latencies limit them. SATCOMBw Stage 4, on the other hand, will rely on a network of many satellites in a low Earth orbit of only a few hundred kilometers altitude. This would make the system very similar to the commercial satellite network Starlink operated by Elon Musk's company SpaceX.
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