Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio have delivered SICRAL 1 (no longer operational), SICRAL 1B, and SICRAL 2 satellites to the Italian Ministry of Defense.
The SICRAL 3 system will ensure continuity with SHF and UHF-band telecom services provided by SICRAL 1A, SICRAL 1B, and SICRAL 2 while adding a Ka-band payload.
Italy’s Ministry of Defence is considering satellites around 2,000 to 2,300 kg so they would be small enough to launch on Vega C or the longer-term Vega E and replace the ten-year-old Sicral-1B satellite.
The Italian government approved a replacement for the Sicral 1B satellite in 2017.
Sicral 1B is a 3,000-kilogram military communications satellite that launched on a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket to geostationary-transfer orbit in 2009.