Airbus Defence and Space has reaffirmed its longstanding support to Malaysia’s defence communications infrastructure with the signing of a contract for continued access to X-band satellite services by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF).
The agreement was signed with the Ministry of Defence and announced at the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2025.
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.
The renewed agreement ensures that 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.
Zakir Hamid, Head of Region for Asia-Pacific at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “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 milsatcom is essential to enable secure command and control, real-time situational awareness, and effective decision-making in contested or remote environments.”
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.
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, Middle East and Africa. The satellite was launched in June, 2022.
Airbus Defence and Space is a global leader in Telecommunication satellites development and in secure satellite communications, providing coverage across all frequency bands – including X-band, L, C, Ku, Ka, and UHF – to meet the mission requirements of armed forces and government users worldwide.