The prospective Indian satellite operator, Anaira SpaceComm LLC, has ordered a pair of small all electric communications satellites, NextStar-1 and NextStar-2 to operate from geostationary Earth orbit from Dauria Aerospace – a Russo-German constructor. The Ku-band communications spacecraft will be launched as a pair on a single Indian GSLV launcher in late 2017. The US$210 million construction contract was signed at the Farnborough International Air Show and has used a loan facility and insurance offered by the Russian Export-Credit agency and the Export Insurance Agency of Russia (ExIAR) respectively as part of the deal.
Each spacecraft, using a bus design built in conjunction with the Spanish firm, Elecnor Deimos, will reportedly deliver 3 kilowatts of power to its 300-kilogram electronics payload and have a service life of between 10 and 15 years. Dauria is currently under contract to Roscosmos to build two small Earth observation satellites, called MKA-N.
