Geostationary
SKYNET 5B
Military Communications · Airbus / UK MoD (PFI)
Right now
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The companion to Skynet-5A, providing redundancy and additional capacity for UK military communications. Together the Skynet-5 pair transformed British military satellite communications — providing encrypted UHF, SHF, and EHF links for all three services. The system supports everything from soldier radios in the field to Typhoon jets to Royal Navy submarine operations in the Atlantic.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Geostationaryappears to hang motionless over one spot on the equator
- Altitude
- 22,232–22,251 mi (35,778–35,810 km)
- Inclination
- 5.5°
- One orbit
- 23.9 hoursabout one orbit a day
- NORAD ID
- 32294
- Int’l designator
- 2007-056B
- Launched
- 2007
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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