Airbus awards Anaren $7M contract for advanced beamforming technology

DeWITT, N.Y. — Airbus Defence & Space has awarded Anaren, Inc. a $7 million contract for an advanced beamforming assembly for deployment in the Eutelsat Quantum satellite program.

Beamforming is a “signal-processing technique used to control the directionality of the transmission and reception of radio signals,” a definition provided on the website of Fremont, California–based Quantenna Communications.

Airbus Defence & Space is developing the quantum-satellite program for Eutelsat as part of a public-private partnership with the European Space Agency, Anaren said in a news release.

Airbus Defence & Space is a division of Airbus Group, a France–based aircraft manufacturer.

Anaren is a DeWitt–based developer of high-frequency technology deployed in space, defense, and wireless-infrastructure applications.

Paris, France–based Eutelsat Communications is an operator of communications satellites that are used by broadcasting organizations, telecommunications companies, Internet-service providers, government agencies, and other customers, Anaren said.

The company has a workforce of about 1,000 employees in 32 countries worldwide.

The Eutelsat Quantum program will feature the “world’s first fully reconfigurable” commercial satellite, allowing Eutelsat to adapt the satellite in response to new demands in coverage, bandwidth, power, frequency, and even changes in its orbital position.

Anaren will deliver its first flight-set hardware to Airbus Defence & Space in 2017, with additional system tests and production anticipated over subsequent years.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com