The role of the mineral processing in the aerospace industry is not to be underestimated, as without a complex mix of chemicals, a brand new satellite wouldn’t ever leave the ground. And that’s the big challenge now afforded to British industry, thanks to a new contract, worth 200 million Euros, secured by Airbus.

The satellites are being created for French telecoms operator Eutelsat as a replacement for its “Hotbird” TV distribution network. This consists of three satellites, which are positioned just over the equator and supply over 1,000 channels to 135 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. These include services such as BBC World channels.

Airbus will be supplying its new Eurostar Neo model, hailed as ‘all-electric’ technology. The large contract is being considered a huge boost to its sites in Stevenage and Portsmouth, as well as those in the supply chain for manufacturing these satellites.  However, in previous year’s manufacturing for as many as 20 satellites have been up for tender, while these two represent two of only seven in the UK in 2018.

Nicolas Chamussy, the director of space systems at Airbus, believes that the market will become buoyant once again however, especially with the introduction of Neo: “”This new-generation platform is of extreme importance because it is the inception of a new product. It’s top of the class with very high performance. This puts us – and especially British industry – ahead of the market,” he said in a conversation with the BBC.

Neo does, however, use less fuel that traditional satellites with chemical thrusters which are the more established design.