SES, Intelsat, Babcock win UK Skynet contract
February 16, 2023
By Chris Forrester
A consortium of businesses have secured the UK’s satellite Skynet military satellite communications system. SES and Intelsat have linked with Babcock Integrated Technology to win the management transition contract which covers the next 6 years of usage.
The contract is valued at £400 million (€450.4m) and will lead to around 400+ new jobs in the UK.
The trio beat off competition from an Airbus consortium (which is building Skynet’s next satellite) as well as a BT-led group and a Lockheed Martin/Serco/Inmarsat team in securing the contract which was awarded by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The winning bid (called the ‘Skynet Service Delivery Wrap’) includes SES and Luxembourg’s GovSat project.
SES tweeted: “We are thrilled to be part of the group awarded the Skynet contract and are excited about leveraging our capabilities and experience serving governments worldwide in this project.”
“Providing low-risk, uninterrupted services necessary to support the current Skynet 5 architecture, the [Babcock] partnership will also support the successful transition of services for future Skynet operations,” the MoD said.
David Lockwood, CEO for Babcock, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to support this world-leading technological safeguard. Skynet enables vital communications to the UK Armed Forces wherever they are, helping to keep them safe. Babcock is a world leader in secure communications for the military. Together with our partners, we will provide a high-tech solution which combines the availability, affordability and capability that the UK needs.”