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SINGAPORE—Airbus plans to finally deploy the Superbird-9 broadcast and broadband satellite for Japan’s SKY Perfect JSAT next year after multiple delays, says Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of the European aerospace giant’s defense and space business.
“While this program has faced significant challenges and yes, delays, it's also been a period of intense learning and stabilization for us, with delivery now anticipated in 2027,” he said here at the Space Summit 2026 at the Singapore Airshow.
When Airbus signed the deal with SKY Perfect in 2021, the two were targeting a 2024 launch for the geostationary, fully digital Ku- and Ka-band telecommunications satellites. The spacecraft is based on Airbus’s OneSat satellite design.
The program was among those difficult space programs that weighed on Airbus' financial results in recent years and have contributed to the company realigning its space business, an operation that has seen part of the leadership replaced. “Superbird-9 remains a critical priority for me and my leadership team,” Schoellhorn says.
The challenges in the satellite business have driven Airbus to work to combine its operations in the market with those from Leonardo and Thales. That joint venture is due to become operational next year.
Schoellhorn says customers in the Asia-Pacific region represent about 40% of all its orders for its most modern telecom satellites.
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