Athena-Fidus (Access on THeatres for EuropeaN Allied forces nations-French Italian Dual Use Satellite) is a civil-military satellite developed by France and Italy to provide broadband telecommunications services for armed forces and civil protection teams in both countries.

Key figures

• 14 antennas
• 3 Gbps data rate
• 660 ground stations
• 3,080 kg satellite mass

Key milestones

• 6 February 2014: Athena-Fidus satellite orbited by Ariane 5
• 9 December 2013: Satellite delivered to Guiana Space Centre
• 16 December 2009: CNES/ASI agreement kicking off project

Project in brief

6 February 2014, the French-Italian Athena-Fidus satellite soared skyward from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on its way to geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the Indian Ocean. Its mission is to deliver fast-broadband telecommunications to the French and Italian armed forces and to civil protection teams in both countries, complementing services already offered by the current fleet of national military satellites. Thanks to Athena-Fidus, French and Italian army chiefs of staff are able to organize videoconferences, conduct remote medical diagnoses or downlink imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles. These capabilities are also accessible by civil protection teams in both countries, to tackle a crisis. To accomplish its mission, Athena-Fidus has 14 antennas operating in the government K_a band, which accommodates encrypted broadband transmissions. This configuration supports very high data rates of some 3 gigabits per second.

CNES’s role

Athena-Fidus was developed jointly by CNES and the Italian space agency ASI, in partnership with the French defence procurement agency DGA and the Italian defence secretariat Segredifesa. Thales Alenia Space was the satellite prime contractor.

CNES contacts

Project Leader
Jean-Pierre Diris
E-mail: jean-pierre.diris at cnes.fr