Airbus Extends Contract With Mindef On Access To X-Band Satellite Services

LANGKAWI, May 21 (Bernama) -- Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus) has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) to extend the Malaysian Armed Forces’ (MAF) access to X-band satellite services, reaffirming its longstanding support to Malaysia’s defence communications infrastructure.

Announced during the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2025, the renewed agreement ensures that the MAF will continue to benefit from the robust, high-assurance, X-band satellite communications until at least 2029 – extending and expanding a critical capability that supports operations across land, sea, and air domains.

“This milestone celebrates a decade of collaboration between Airbus and Malaysia in secure communications, following the successful 2014 launch of the MEASAT-3b satellite by Airbus.

“The satellite, owned and operated by Malaysian satellite operator MEASAT, has been a cornerstone of this enduring partnership,” Airbus said in a statement today.

Airbus Defence and Space head for Asia-Pacific, Zakir Hamid said that since 2014, Airbus’ X-band satellite services have been critical to Malaysia’s strategic communications architecture.

“In an increasingly complex and interconnected security environment, reliable military satellite communication is essential to enable secure command and control, real-time situational awareness, and effective decision-making in contested or remote environments,” he said.

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According to Airbus, the contract also includes an Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) designed to deepen cooperation between Airbus and Malaysia’s growing space and defence technology ecosystem.

“Under this initiative, Airbus will work closely with local partners to share expertise, build capacity, and support the long-term development of sovereign satellite and electronic warfare capabilities and will strengthen the existing and successful collaboration between Airbus and MEASAT,” it said.

In 2019, Airbus was selected by MEASAT to build MEASAT-3d, a new multi-mission telecommunications satellite to replace capacity and augment MEASAT‘s core business in Malaysia, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The satellite was launched in June, 2022.

-- BERNAMA