Airbus 2015 Annual Report Download - page 77

AIRBUS GROUP REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2015 l 45 l
Informationon GroupActivities
Registration Document 2015
1.
1.1 Presentation of the Group
Eurostar family of platform, thelatest version of which is the
Eurostar E3000, including an all-electric variant. In 2015,
Airbus Defence andSpace also started the development of
the Quantum telecommunication satellite, which will be the first
satellite that can be fully reconfigured in orbit through its flexible
antennae and repeater. Through its contract with OneWeb in
2015 to design and produce 900 small telecommunication
satellites for a constellation in Low Earth Orbit, Airbus Defence
andSpace is spearheading the industrial and commercial
development of very large satellite constellations.
Observation and scientific/ exploration satellites. Airbus
Defence andSpace supplies Earth observation satellite systems
including ground infrastructures for both civil and military
applications. Customers can derive significant benefits from
the common elements of Airbus Defence andSpace’s civil
and military observation solutions, which allow the collection
of information for various applications, such as cartography,
weather forecasting, climate monitoring, agricultural and forestry
management, mineral, energy and water resource management,
as well as military reconnaissance and surveillance.
Airbus Defence andSpace also produces scientific satellites and
space infrastructure, which are tailor-made products adapted
to the specific requirements of the mostly high-end mission
assigned to them. Applications include astronomical observation
of radiation sources within the Universe, planetary exploration
and Earth sciences. Airbus Defence andSpace designs and
manufactures a wide range of highly versatile platforms, optical
and radar instruments and equipment. For example, Airbus
Defence andSpace was highly involved in ESA’s “Rosetta”
mission, which descended a lander on a comet – a first in space
flight. Airbus Defence andSpace was prime contractor for the
orbiter. Additionally, Airbus Defence andSpace contributed to
the scientific community with the launches of the Sentinel-1B
radar, Sentinel-2A and LISA pathfinder in 2015. It also signed
a major contract to develop and build the JUICE spacecraft,
ESA’s next life-tracker inside the Solar System. JUICE will study
Jupiter and its icy moons.
Navigation satellites. Airbus Defence andSpace plays a major
industrial role in the “Galileo” European navigation satellite
system, which delivers signals enabling users to determine
their geographic position with high accuracy and is expected to
become increasingly significant in many sectors of commercial
activity. Airbus Defence andSpace was responsible for the
Galileo in-orbit validation phase (IOV) to test the new satellite
navigation system under real mission conditions. The IOV
phase covered the construction of the first four satellites of the
constellation and part of the ground infrastructure for Galileo.
After the successful launch of the first four Airbus Defence
andSpace Galileo IOV satellites in 2011 and 2012, this early
constellation was successfully tested in orbit and handed over
to the customer in 2013. Airbus Defence andSpace is playing
an active role in the Galileo full operation capability phase
(FOC) with a nearly 50% work share, including the FOC ground
control segment and providing the payloads for the first 22 FOC
satellites through its subsidiary SSTL.
Satellite products. Airbus Defence and Space offers an
extensive portfolio of embedded subsystems and equipment
for all types of space applications: telecommunications, Earth
observation, navigation, scientific missions, manned spaceflight
and launchers.
Ballistic missiles. Following its contracts with the French
State for the submarine-launched ballistic missiles family of
M1, M2, M20, M4 and M45, Airbus Defence andSpace is now
under contract to develop and produce the M51 with increased
technical and operational capabilities. In 2010, the French
Defence Procurement Agency and Airbus Defence andSpace
signed a contract covering the development and production of
the second version of the M51 strategic missile (M51.2), which
secures Airbus Defence andSpace’s capabilities in this field. In
addition, Airbus Defence andSpace manages the operational
maintenance of the M51 missile system on behalf of the French
armed forces. At the end of 2011, Airbus Defence andSpace
received a first design study contract in order to prepare the
intended M51.3 new upper stage development.
Communications, Intelligence & Security
Integrated Systems. Airbus Defence andSpace is a provider of
full systems architecture and integration for military and security
land-, sea-, air- and space-based systems. Airbus Defence
andSpace designs, integrates and implements secure fixed,
tactical, theatre and mobile information infrastructure solutions,
including all of the services needed to support integrated
mission systems and solutions. Airbus Defence andSpace is
also a designer and supplier of C4I systems (Command, Control,
Communications, Computers and Intelligence). Airbus Defence
andSpace offers a full range of mission avionics systems.
Airbus Defence andSpace’s lead systems integration offering
includes the ability to design, develop and integrate the widest
possible range of individual platforms and subsystems into a
single effective network. Large systems integration has become
increasingly important for customers engaged in border control
and coastal surveillance, as well as for non-military customers
in areas such as homeland security.
Border security systems include sensor networks ranging
from IR and video cameras through radars to airborne and
space surveillance systems, all connected to command and
control centres. Apart from Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance (ISR) systems for gathering, aggregation
and evaluation of incident data, highly reliable and encrypted
digital data and voice networks are provided. Sophisticated
decision-making tools support security forces to prioritise
incidents, allocate required resources and control events in
real-time. Services for long-term sustainable operation and life-
cost optimisation such as simulation and training, maintenance,
support to operation, local partnerships are also proposed.
Financial Statements 2015
11 22 33 44 55
QRegistration Document 2015
Annual Report 2015 Financial Statements 2015
Q